The Hunt for Assassin X
by JustMikeG22
Summary: Chang and Balalaika's men are killed by a mysterious assassin. When Rock is blamed, he and Revy go on the run, not only to survive, but find out who framed him and why, and the 2,000,000 bounty on his life doesn't help! Chapter 8 added. Chapter 9 up soon
1. Revamped Prologue

_Full summary: Assassin X is at it again. When top officers from Hotel Moscow and The Triad are assassinated, all evidence points to Rock's sophisticated planning. Now He is on the run from Hotel Moscow, The Triad, police, and legendary assassins determined to claim the huge bounty on his life. Now, the killer duo of Rock and Revy must find the real culprit and save their own lives before it's too late_

Rock stepped out on the deck with two beers and offered one to Revy. "Here you go, Revy."

Revy violently swiped it out of his hand with a pout on her lips. "It fucking took ya long enough!"

Rock sighed deeply before giving her small pout an amused grin and raising an eyebrow. "Whatever you say, Revy."

It was their day off and Rock was enjoying the peace while Revy was bored like she always was when they had days off. "Revy?"

Revy finished her mouthful of beer and looked at Rock out of the corner of her eye waiting for him to continue. When it became clear that he wasn't going to say anything until she replied she turned her head to the side and quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

Rock smiled with a teasing glint in his eye and asked her the question he'd been pondering for the past half an hour, "Are you still mad that I had to save you from The General the other day?"

Revy gritted her teeth and growled at Rock. Rock took in her murderous glare, her clenched fists and her tense jaw with a look of amusement, "I'll take that as a yes."

Rock knew that the fact he had to save her because she couldn't save herself got to her. He knew that she was mad because, for the first time in her life, she needed help, and that made her feel helpless.

Although Rock felt like teasing her a little bit, he could clearly see the self-disappointment in her chocolate eyes and let the matter drop.

This wasn't lost on Revy whose shoulders sagged in relief when she realized that he wouldn't bring it up again, and a comfortable silence engulfed the pair before – a few minutes later – Revy turned to her companion and tilted her head questioningly. "Hey, Rock. There is one thing I want to know. Why didn't you tell me?"

Rock looked at her questioningly and she gave him an irritated look. "Why didn't you tell me that you were a killer? Why didn't you tell me that you are like me?"

Rock looked down and closed his eyes for a moment, before sitting back in his chair and taking in a deep breath.

After a second he opened his eyes and looked at Revy apologetically. "Because I knew that if you found out I was Assassin X, you would've tried to fight and kill me, and I didn't want to have a reason to hurt or kill you. You found out anyway and you and Dutch both tried to kill me, and you got captured. I thought I was protecting you by being Rock, the humble businessman. I know now that no matter what I do, I can never fully be that guy again; Assassin X was, is and always has been a part of me."

Revy was speechless at the explanation Rock had given her; she hadn't expected anything like that. "But I can tell you one thing, Revy. I will miss being that guy."

At that moment, Rock pulled out a pack of smokes and lit himself a cigarette, before handing Revy one and doing the same.

Once again a silence engulfed the pair, but this time it was Rock that broke the stillness. "Even though we haven't talked about it Revy, I meant what I said that night."

Revy's jaw dropped a few inches and she stared in shock at Rock's calm face, his eyes closed and the smoke coming from his nose being the only sign he was conscious.

She was speechless; she had thought that he had just said it in the heat of the moment that night…

**Flashback**

_The driver of the other car got out and pulled out a woman who was bound with duct tape. It was Revy! Revy began to run toward Rock. Revy jumped into Rock's arms, giving him a long embrace. Then Revy punched Rock in the stomach. "I can't believe you let me get kidnapped you prick!"_

_  
Rock finally got to his feet. "Sorry, you had a gun to my forehead and those guys came by surprise! Listen, Dutch and Benny are down there waiting for you."_

_  
Revy asked, "Rock? What is going on? You're not coming, are you?"_

_  
Rock looked down, "No, I'm not. Revy, I want you to know, you were the best thing that ever happened to me. I want to thank you for giving me something I never thought I could have."_

_  
Revy was curious, "What?"_

_  
Rock said, "Hope. A hope to know how it felt to love somebody more than yourself. I fell in love with you, Revy. You always had me. Always. I may not be the Rock you knew anymore, but now, as my last act as the man I know you love, it's time I said goodbye. You were the only reason why I ever stayed in Roanapur, because I'd rather walk through hell with you than walk through heaven without you. I hope you find peace someday."_

_  
Revy had tears running down her face. "Rock, you don't have to do this. You don't."_

_  
Rock put his hand on her cheek and said, "Yes, I do. I still have some unfinished business with a certain General. Take this."_

_  
Rock pulled out what looked like a detonator. "Rock, what is this for?"_

_  
Rock looked at Revy, "There's another guy down there in the car. He's the General's son. When you are in the car and Dutch lets him go, let him get out a little ways and press the button!"_

_  
Revy took the detonator, "Won't they kill you?" _

_Rock said, "No, the General wants to kill me himself. That's how I want it, face-to-face. Trust me. If I don't come back, and if there's a heaven, I will put in a good word for you. Goodbye, Revy. I love you. Now go. Get out of here."_

**End Flashback**

It had taken a few seconds, but what Rock had said finally hit her and her eyes widened in astonishment. "Really?"

A small smile graced his lips, and the cigarette wiggled to the corner of his mouth while one eyelid cracked open a fraction to reveal the cool, grey iris beneath. "Really."

Revy could've sworn her heart stopped, but it was like an electric shock jolted through her body when he spoke again. "And what about what you said? Did you mean it?"

_"I love you too, Rock."_

A gentle, unguarded smile spread across her face, and her cinnamon eyes glinted happily back at the man in front of her.

If one didn't know Revy, they would simply see this as being normal, however the fact that Revy was sitting there without malice or cruelty in her eyes or in her smile was something that only one man had ever been treated to, and that man was the only other person in the room.

"I meant every word."

On the other side of Roanapur however, the loving mood back at the Lagoon's apartment was not replicated…in the least.

A masked assassin was putting a vest wired with C-4 together as he watched a meeting going down between top officers from both Hotel Moscow and The Triad.

He'd been planning this for weeks, getting the right gear, interrogating the right people, and planning for every eventuality; and now it was time to put it all into action.

The assassin yanked a scared looking police officer whom he had…acquired earlier that week from the corner of the room and dragged him to the door.

Once the masked man had fitted the explosive vest to the terrified man, he leant down on his haunches and spoke. "This is what you're going to are going to do: you are going to walk into that meeting between the Triad and Hotel Moscow officers and deliver a message for me."

He tapped the thick vest lovingly a couple of times, as one might pet a dog. "This is to make sure you don't run. It is also your way into the meeting: they won't try to shoot you if you've got this strapped to your chest."

The assassin lifted the terrified man to his feet and led him down the stairs of the small apartment that they had been inhabiting for the past couple of days, and down onto the street.

A minute's walk later, and the two of them were standing on a spot right across the street from the meeting place.

Seeing the police officer shaking with terror, the masked assassin leant down to his ear and whispered reassuringly. "Relax, I haven't armed the bomb yet, and as long as they don't know, they won't hurt you. All you have to do is walk in there, give them my message and walk out, that's all. I will take the vest off when you come back."

"What's the message you want me to say?" Judging by the severe amount of shaking in both the officer's voice and body, the assassin's words hadn't put him at ease in the slightest.

The assassin scratched his chin for a couple of seconds as if thinking, before finally telling the poor police officer what he'd like him to do. "Put on this earpiece; when I see that you're in the meeting room, I'll tell you what to say."

Two minutes later the assassin was back in his vantage point, and the officer was making his way to the building where the meeting was being held.

In the lobby he was stopped by two suited men, and they did not look overly happy to see a policeman in _their_ private meeting place. "This is a private meeting. Get out!"

The assassin heard them over the earpiece and whispered into it, "Show them the bomb and tell them it's armed."

The officer obeyed; he opened his shirt to reveal the vest underneath and the guards' eyes widened. "This bomb is armed."

The assassin prompted him further. "Tell them you have a message for Hotel Moscow and The Triad and want to tell them in person."

The officer once again obeyed, and although grudgingly, the men let him in, and he was immediately escorted into the room in which the meeting was being held.

The members of the meeting looked at the man expectantly, as one might regard a naughty child; it was clear that they saw no immediate threat.

The assassin then said, "I want you to tell them this…" That's when the young officer said, "I have a message from The Lagoon Company…"

A murmur of questions spread around the room, and it was then that the Assassin made his move; his grand finale; his moment of destruction and hell raising.

He pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch – it was time. He armed the bomb for 3 seconds and pressed the button on the watch.

In the meeting room, the young officer heard the bomb arm itself, as did every other person in the room.

While the triad and Russian Mafia members' eyes widened, the betrayed police office managed to yell out his final words at his killer. "DOUBLE-CROSSING MOTHERFU—"

His voice was abruptly cut off however, when the bomb detonated with a ferocious intensity that brought the entire building down on top of the people beneath.

The Assassin allowed himself a small chuckle as he packed all of his gear into a large rucksack sat in the corner of the room; it had all gone as planned.

All that was left now was to let the message get out; there'd be at least one person that had survived the explosion, and all that was left for either Balalaika or Chang to hear about it and then they'd take care of the recently named 'Rock' for him.

He swung the bag over his shoulder and began walking down the steps to his waiting car, whistling merrily; in twenty hours he'd be sipping margaritas on some white, sandy beach overlooking a tropical lagoon half way across the world.

Life was good, and it was even better now that Rock was out of the way.


	2. Love and Bullets

_**Summary: When Top officers from Hotel Moscow and The Triads are assassinated, all evidence points to Rock's sophisticated planning. Now on the Run from Hotel Moscow, The Triad, the police, and other legendary assassins determined to claim the huge bounty on his life, it's up to the killer duo of Rock and Revy to find the real culprit and save their own lives before it's too late.**_

"ROCK!"

Said black haired man warily turned around and deftly dodged the fist directed at his face before pulling the angry, purple-haired woman into an immobilizing embrace, her head in his chest. "Yes Revy, what seems to be the problem?"

She managed to move her head upwards and proceeded to glare at the deadly assassin before screaming angrily at him, her eyes crazed. "Your fucking underwear is in my room!"

Unfortunately for Revy, this caused all sorts of mental images to pop into his head the moment she said that; and with the majority of them being Revy in _just_ his boxers a grin crept onto his face - the fact that her breasts were pressing into his chest certainly didn't help with the matter.

Seeing _exactly_ where Rock's thoughts were going with her statement she managed to get a knee into his groin - which Rock blocked with the hand holding her to his chest.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts he scratched his head in confusion and looked into the distance trying to figure out the cause of this mishap. "I wouldn't have a clue love; maybe I accidently folded it with your washing or some--"

He cut himself off mid-sentence before looking down at Revy with a dangerous look in his eyes. She was wearing much the same expression. "Fucking Benny!" she screamed angrily.

Seeing that the immediate danger to his person had diminished, Rock released the firm hold he had on the furious woman in front of him.

As soon as her arms were free she whipped both her pistols from their holsters and quickly chambered a round in each of them, muttering angrily under her breath as she did so. "Gonna shoot that little shit in the fucking balls!"

Rock leaned back on the fridge and watched, amused as she sat down in one of the lounge chairs before aiming her guns exactly where the next persons genitalia would appear when they entered the door.

Revy caught Rock's amused look and flashed him a mischievous smile before turning back to the door. He gave a small chuckle at her antics while leaning his head against the refrigerator and closing his eyes, a contented smile on his face.

Things had changed over the past two days, mostly for good, but a little for the worse...in an amusing way.

After the conversation Revy and him had had that night, things got a little heated - and not in the way which Revy normally did, but it was the conversation that really stuck in his mind...

_**Flashback**_

_They had been sitting in silence for the last half hour, and since Benny and Dutch weren't due back for another five hours there wasn't any need to do anything._

_Rock wasn't a stranger to silence and lack of action. In the Bulkhead Revolution in 1994 he'd lain in wait for 6 days not moving a single muscle or speaking a word, just waiting for the right time to start, or rather finish things off perfectly._

_Revy however, wasn't as skilled at being patient. In fact, her patience knew every bound. Another five minutes passed and she simply couldn't stand it any longer._

_She leapt from her chair and landed right on top of her current roommate who - feeling the rather obvious change of weight - cracked open his eyes and regarded her innocently, although a slight twinkle in his eye suggested that he had been waiting for this to happen._

_Revy looked down at the man beneath her and couldn't help but stare in wonder, and it surprised Rock when she spoke rather than acted. "Why did you choose me?"_

_Rock's eyes softened and he gave her a small smile before patting the space beside him, indicating that she should make herself comfortable._

_Once she had settled herself comfortably beside him, which – much to her glee - included resting her head on his chest, he began speaking. "I'm asking myself the same question when I think about why you chose me."_

_Revy looked up at him in surprise and he let out a small chuckle when he saw her expression. "I'm not kidding Revy; I'm a pretty fucked up person, seriously."_

_"How? You can't be more screwed up than I am."_

_Rock raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. "I'd dispute that." He broke eye contact and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully for a few moments._

_Just when Revy was getting impatient he spoke, and there was no joy in his voice. "Revy," he started, still staring at the ceiling, "What I'm about to tell you I've never told anybody else. Seven people knew about it, and I've killed all of them." _

_Seeing that the dark-haired man she was lying next to was deadly serious she kept her mouth shut and listened. "I'm not going to expect you to stay with me after I tell you this; so you can leave at any time."_

_Seeing that she wasn't going to budge a single inch Rock sighed and began the story of his life: how his parents were murdered when he was nine, his mother raped right in front of his very eyes; how he had killed the two burglars when they were about to kill him; how he had killed for money until he was seventeen; how he had joined the army; how he was recruited as an assassin when he was twenty; how he had killed hundreds of men, women and children for no reason but because he was told to do so._

_Revy lay in a stunned silence after he had finished, or at least that was what she had thought. His voice broke the silence like a hammer through glass, as did the words he spoke. "I was sent to kill you." _

_Revy's head snapped up to look at Rock, and her eyes met his deadly serious ones. "My bosses didn't like a woman running around with the ability to kill as skilfully as you do, and so they sent me."_

_He chuckled humourlessly before returning his gaze to the ceiling. "What changed?"_

_The mirthless smile he had plastered on his face quickly disappeared and was replaced by a warm one. "I did." _

_He looked down at the violet-haired beauty on his chest and gave her a small peck on her forehead, shocking her even more than she already was. "You changed me when you asked me to become one of the crew."_

_He got a faraway look in his eyes as he reminisced. "You gave me this small smile when you invited me into the group, and I realized that you were accepting me – not Assassin X – but the real me, or at least the most of the real me I'd ever shown. All throughout my life I was shunned by people and treated as a weapon, but you changed that; I had to show my real self to fit into my cover of the innocent businessman, and you accepted me for that. I think I fell in love with you right there and then."_

_Revy looked up at him in amazement. "Weren't you supposed to kill me?"_

"_I was, but when the seven people who ordered me to do it were dead I no longer had a reason to do it."_

_There was an uncomfortable silence for a second, which was broken by Rock, albeit with a very nervous tone to his voice. "So…do you hate me?" _

_No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Revy's fist was buried forcefully in his stomach, pushing all the air out of his lungs. _

_While Rock gasped for air, Revy took the time to answer his question, her face directly in front of his and a very irritated expression on her face. "You fucking dipshit Rock! You think that shit would scare me away?! I've heard worse shit than that at pre-school Rock, get a grip! Here I was thinking you were all tough and "Mr Assassin X"ie and you start this shit up! This is my fucking answer Rock!" and without further ado, she mashed her lips firmly against his. _

_It took a few moments for Rock to get over the shock of the whole situation, but he soon relaxed and put a hand to the back of Revy's head to pull her lips closer to his._

_Slowly the kiss became less heated and passionate and instead became gentler, more expressive. After about ten minutes of this Rock broke his lips away from hers and rested his forehead against Revy's, his eyes closed and his lungs drawing in fresh air._

_Eventually he opened his eyes and he looked down at the woman beside him, her eyes glittering up at him merrily and her lips slightly parted. It took him a few seconds to form the words in his mouth, but he finally managed to force them out. "So you really meant what you said that night?"_

_She bumped her forehead gently against his chest before lifting her head to look into his eyes and giving him a timid nod. Rock had never felt anything like it in his life, and the only way he knew how to respond was with actions._

_Pressing his lips to hers was bliss, and he could feel the small smile she had through the kiss. He was just beginning to sink into it when – by complete rotten luck – the door opened, and who else walked in but the two people who they would rather not know about their relationship. _

_All four people in the room froze; Revy's lips firmly planted on Rock's, and Benny and Dutch standing in the doorway looking shell-shocked, as if they had just walked in on Revy being happy…which they had._

_Moments passed, and it was Benny who broke the silence by dropping the shopping on the ground and yelling something incomprehensible whilst pumping his fists in the air._

_Revy and Rock broke the lip lock they were in before giving each other a quizzical look. When both of them saw Dutch grudgingly handing over a wad of money to Benny however, things slowly began to click into place._

_The couple looked down at their rather compromising position, and back at the wad of money a few times before their clueless expressions turned grave, and highly dangerous._

_It would've been surprising three months earlier, but when Rock produced a gun from behind one of the cushions behind his head he received three very different looks: Benny's fight or flight reflex was starting to kick in, and it looked like the flight reflex was most certainly going to win judging by the terrified look on his face; Dutch was slowly beginning to edge his way back out the door he had recently entered with a very wary expression; and Revy was sporting a feral grin on her face while she pulled her own gun from her holster. "Benny…Dutch…"_

_**End Flashback**_

Since then Revy had calmed down a lot; she'd been far less moody, and she was – much to the amusement of Dutch and Benny – far, far nicer to Rock than she had been previously.

Not to say that she didn't occasionally pull a gun on Rock or yell at him, but when she did it was always on the understanding that it was in good humour.

It had become somewhat of a game for Revy however, to actually shoot rock – or at least try.

One night at the Yellow Flag pub, some poker players were being rather loud – not that that was weird in any way, shape or form mind you; Bao always accounted for a few bullet holes through the roof in the expenses.

That night however, one of the bullets hadn't been aimed at the roof, in fact it had been aimed directly at Rock's head when he had – quite forcefully – told them to "Shut the fuck up, I'm trying to have a goddamn conversation!"

The poker player – a violent man at the best of times without being superfluously drunk, which I hasten to point out that he was at the time – took great offence to Rock's ill-mannered comment and decided that he'd be better off with a piece of lead through his head.

A gunshot had torn through the noise in the room, and Revy's face went white when she saw the direction that the angered man's gun was pointed at.

A second later there was the small tinkle of metal on the floor of the silent pub, and every single person's eyes widened when they saw the reason why.

Rock – still with his back facing the room – had a gun held behind his head, a small smudge-mark present where the bullet had deflected off its previously untarnished, silver slide.

Not moving his head to face the great oaf of a man, he took a sip of the rather large pint of Bacardi which Revy had treated him to, and proceeded to blow one hole through each of the man's earlobes, and one shot that went right through the flimsy table and blew a rather large whole mere millimetres from the man's crotch.

Nobody messed with Rock there anymore. Of course Revy never aimed at Rock himself, she cared to much about him to do that, but when she fired a shot way above his head and off to his right and he jumped to stop the bullet much like a kid would to catch a baseball she had been laughing and clapping for at least five minutes afterwards.

The great thing for Rock and Revy however, was the fact that they could now snog one another without any inhibitions, and they had been taking full advantage of that fact ever since they knew that they both felt the same way.

Rock would've kept on reminiscing had Dutch and Benny not burst through the door at that exact moment.

Revy's grin widened when she saw Benny's crotch come into her sights, but the smart comment which she'd been dying to scream at the blonde computer-whizz quickly died in her throat when she saw the crazed look in his eyes.

Seeing that Rock and Revy now had his full attention he wheezed out a command. "Get in the ceiling!"

While Revy looked confused, Rock immediately sprang into action; he wasn't Assassin X for nothing.

He pushed off from the fridge with his back foot and sprinted towards Revy who was getting to her feet looking at him with an astounded look on her face. "Rock, wha--"

Without even bothering to let her finish the sentence he grabbed her around the waist and jumped straight up, using the now empty couch as a springboard to launch them through one of the roof panels and into the ceiling.

As soon as his back hit the beams in the ceiling he grabbed the displaced board and slid it over the hole which the two of them had just come through.

All of this had taken less than two seconds, and adrenaline was pumping furiously through Rock's veins, while Revy was still trying to comprehend just how they had got up in the ceiling so fast, and why they were there in the first place. "You know if we weren't in so much shit I would be enjoying the position we're in Revy."

"What shi--" Revy got her answer when the door slammed open beneath them, and through the small holes in the panels they saw Balalaika stride into the room looking far less than happy.

What made the whole situation all the more serious in everybody's eyes was the fact that ten, armed commandoes entered after her…fully armed.

Revy's eyes widened at the sight and she turned to look at Rock's calm face beneath her in the dim light before whispering urgently. "Rock, you've got to see thi--"

"Balalaika and twelve commandoes, I know."

"There's only ten--"

"There are two outside the door." He cracked open an eye and looked at her confused expression before giving her a cheeky smile. "A woman once told me not to listen for footsteps, but to instead listen for the sound of their guns."

Hey eyes widened in comprehension and he chuckled quietly. "Who would've thought I'd fall in love with the woman who said that to me."

Getting over her shock at his statement she began listening to the conversation taking place a meter below them.

"—on't know what you're talking about Ms Balalaika."

"Well Dutch, then why is one of my men on his deathbed, and why is he saying that it was Lagoon Company that sent him there?"

Dutch's deep voice came from below a couple of seconds later. "I wouldn't know Ms Balalaika."

A few seconds of silence passed and Rock heard a hurried whisper by one of the Russian commandos. "He's not here, neither is the girl."

Another couple of seconds passed before the Russian woman spoke again. "The assassination was exactly like one performed in the Bulkhead Revolution a couple of years ago. No other person in the world is capable of executing such a plan except Assassin X. He's killed ten of my top officers, and thirteen of Chang's."

She slammed a fist angrily on the table, "So where the hell is he Dutch?"

Dutch leant forward in his chair slightly before resting his chin on his clasped fists. "I don't keep tabs on my employees Ms Balalaika; they are free to do what they want in their free time. I don't know where Rock or Revy are, and to tell you the truth I don't care; what they do is their own business."

Balalaika turned to her commandos and thought for a second before turning her head upwards, almost as if she could sense their presence there.

Seeing their leader's interest, the ten commandos in the room, and the two who had recently popped their heads in from the hallway all raised their rifles to the roof and opened fire.

Rock had pulled Revy close into his chest the moment the Russian commander had looked upwards, and so when the bullets tore through the roof they both had their legs above their chests to protect them from the flying lead.

It took a few seconds for it to occur to Revy, but when she realized that Rock was taking the maelstrom of bullets into his back she hurriedly looked at his face.

His mouth contorted in pain and some small specs of blood around his mouth he looked up at her with…amused eyes. "You _so_ owe me for this."

She looked down at him in absolute astonishment, his body jerking violently as the bullets impacted against his body.

A groan escaped his bloody lips and he spat out some blood that had collected in his mouth. "I don't care what people think, even with a bulletproof fucking vest bullets hurt."

A few seconds later the onslaught finished and Rock managed to wheeze out a pained, "Fuckin' hell." Balalaika signalled to one of the commandos, and a second later a grenade entered the ceiling cavity mere inches from Revy and Rock's prone bodies.

While Rev's eyes were widening however, Rock was hurriedly pulling a large slab of metal from above his head to cover their bodies – a piece of metal that he had put here specifically for this purpose.

Keeping track of the time since the armed grenade had been thrown, he pulled out his pistols and flicked of the safeties before whispering in the wide-eyed woman's ear above him. "Deep breath, love."

A fraction of a second before the grenade blew, Rock fired ten shots in quick succession into the roof supports surrounding them, and they began to fall just as the grenade exploded.

Rock had been shot at, tortured, blown up, and even hunted many times in his life, but even to him this whole plan was bloody crazy.

As he flew towards the couch beneath him with Revy tucked protectively to his chest he grinned as he remembered how he had gained the acceptance of Dutch, and perhaps the rest of the entire crew...

**Flashback**

Dutch let out a deep sigh. "Damn, I thought that we could actually use the torpedo for something."

"It's a waste, but let's just throw it overboard."

Dutch let out another sigh. "I guess we have no other choice Benny Boy...what a waste."

The man's dark hand closed around the release levers for the two torpedoes on the top of the ship, but before he could pull them Rock had an idea. "Wait." Dutch turned his head slightly in Rock's direction. "Listen to me!"

"Just go back to sleep Rock."

"No. I've figured something out now that I've had some time to think, just hear me out."

"If you break my thought process again I'll let Revy hit you."

"I say we go face to face with these guys."

Dutch raised his eyebrows and regarded him as if he was a five year old. "Are you retarded? How are we supposed to have a shootout with those guys; all we have is an anti-tank rifle, they've got missiles on their side!"

Revy decided to point out yet another downside to Rock's idea. "I noticed that helicopter had infrared homing missiles on it actually."

"We don't even come close."

"Really? We do have something we can use."

Once again Dutch gave him a look that clearly showed that he was questioning the man's sanity. He turned to Revy with a question in his eyes. "Revy, what have you been giving him to drink?"

"It wasn't me."

"If you think about it, this is just a big game of chicken, right? This boats armaments, it's speed, that sunken ship we passed, I'm pretty sure we have everything we need."

Dutch was taken aback by the feral grin on Rock's face. "What the hell are you thinking?"

Rock's smile widened. "Exactly what you guys were just talking about; why don't we fly them to the moon?"

There was a deadly silence in the cabin of the torpedo boat as Dutch thought. A few moments later he spoke. "Impossible, there's no way we could pull that off."

Benny thought for a second before interjecting. "Actually, if you think about it this boat is designed to hydroplane." he held his forefinger and thumb up, only a couple of centimeters apart. "At full speed we're only in the water this much."

Silence once again. "Dutch," Revy started, "It's not like we have any better ideas. I'm in."

Duch handed Rock a cigarette and lit it for him as he thought about the proposition from the quiet businessman. "You know that this won't work unless they're directly in front of us, do you have any guarantees?"

The black haired man thought for a second and exhaled the smoke from his lungs. "It seems like they're having a lot of fun just chasing us around, even though it's blatantly obvious that they have the upper-hand. What reason would they have to start the whole fight over again? You said it earlier yourself, he is the type that imagines himself as a gunman. If we put forward this challenge, I don't think he'll back down."

Dutch tapped his fingers against the dashboard a few times before resting his head against the back of the chair. "Man, we sure as hell picked up one crazy son of a bitch. You've got to be completely insane..." A feral grin spread across the black man's face, "But this is exciting Rock, and it's important to be exciting...let's do this!"

**End Flashback**

Well this sure was exciting…he hoped it was interesting enough for Dutch to forgive him for all the damage.

The couch had tipped from the explosion, and was just about to rock back into its upright position when Revy, Rock and the heavy hunk of metal landed square on the back of it, flipping it backwards and hiding their bodies from view of anyone in the room – just as Rock had planned.

He grinned in satisfaction as his consciousness slipped away and he felt the level breathing of the unconscious Revy on his chest.

Balalaika said her last words before she left: an apology and a warning. "I'm sorry about the room Dutch; I'll pay for the damages. If you see Rock, tell him this: Chang and I want him dead, and we'll do anything to find him and avenge our comrades."


	3. Of Bullets, Bounties, Blood And Bets

**A/N: Hey there, here's the next chapter! With more action, more suspense, and just a little bit of RockxRevy fluff! Hope you enjoy!**

Rock always hated waking up. In all honesty he could stay in bed for an entire month and not get bored – of course a naked Revy would help with the boredom for sure, but alas when Rock finally opened his eyes he wasn't treated to the cinnamon orbs that he was hoping for, instead he was faced with a very black face, and a pair of glasses.

Needless to say that this was a rather major deviation from his previous thoughts, and so jumping backwards and yelling out "FUCK!" while he fell off the edge of his bed seemed like a rather good idea at the time.

After recovering from the initial shock, he peered cautiously over the bed and beheld… Dutch… looking rather unhappy. "Rock, you're awake." It was hardly a question, and from the tone of voice that the Dutch was sporting, this conversation wasn't likely to be overly pleasant.

The first words out of the man's mouth confirmed his suspicions. "This isn't good Rock."

Picking himself off the floor, Rock dropped back onto the bed and rubbed his eyes. "You're telling me, but why the fuck do they suspect m--" He abruptly cut himself off however, when he remembered exactly what had happened. "Where the fuck is Revy?!"

Dutch, his face as emotionless as ever, pointed over to a cot on the other side of the room, which Rock immediately ran to.

On it laid a bruised, battered, but very much alive Revy – and with the sleepy curses aimed towards Benny and his "Stupid fucking bets," that she was muttering in her sleep it seemed that she hadn't been hurt that badly.

Rock let out a sigh of relief and sat beside her on the bed, intertwining his fingers with hers and calming his heart rate down to an acceptable level now that he had reassured himself that she was safe.

Once he'd gotten back to normal he turned to face the man in the chair across the room. "So what the hell's happened?"

Dutch reached up and pushed his glasses up his nose before speaking. "Balalaika and Chang had a large attack on their organizations; apparently some crazy fucker walked right into the building where a meeting between the Russian Mafia and the Triad was taking place with C4 strapped to his chest, and then he said "I have a message from the Lagoon Company" before blowing himself to high heaven."

Rock scratched his head in confusion. "I still don't get it, what does that have to do with _me_?"

"The meeting was top secret Rock, and when Balalaika looked back on how the assassin had gathered his information she found a whole pile of bodies."

Rock looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. "And?"

"And they were tortured just like the infamous Assassin X has tortured in the past." Rock froze and locked eyes with the black man, a wary look in his eyes.

Seemingly unperturbed by Rock's untrusting gaze he continued. "I know you've done some fucked up shit rock, and when Balalaika showed me pictures I understood for the first time just how fucked up some of the stuff you'd done was, but I'm not pissed. You're Rock, you're not Assassin X – sure that's a part of you, but it's not _you_."

He stood up from his chair and walked towards the door at the far end of the room. Just as he was about to leave the room he turned to face the shocked face of Rock. "Oh, and Rock?" A maniacal grin spread across his features. "That was _very_ _very_ exciting."

Not waiting for an answer, the mountain of a man exited the door and closed it behind him with a resounding clang.

Rock looked at the space which Dutch had been standing moments before in absolute wonder; he'd have to take Benny's advice and stop trying to figure that man out.

He thought for a few moments before standing from Revy's bed and letting her hand go, walking quickly over to his bedside table where he had spotted his guns moments earlier.

He slid the two intricately engraved weapons into their respective holsters and then picked his coat from the back of the chair where Dutch had been sitting earlier.

He slipped into the dark jacket and zipped it up slightly to conceal the weapons hidden beneath, and then walked over to Revy's bedside once again.

He looked down at her face, now calm, and smiled sadly before stroking one finger across her cheek – blushing when she nuzzled it unconsciously. "I'm sorry Revy, but I love you too much to involve you in this mess."

He pressed a light kiss to her tanned cheek before standing up straight and, without a backwards glance, began walking towards the door which Dutch had existed only minutes previously.

The silence in the room was not to last however, and a second later a gunshot rang out in the room – this, as always, was followed by the expected metallic tinkle a moment later. "Fuck."

Rock grinned, raised an eyebrow inquisitively and slowly turned around to face the highly pissed off and very much awake Revy who was sitting up in her bed with a smoking pistol in her hand. "And you thought that _I _thought that you were _actually_ asleep."

"Etch." She blew a stray strand of her hair away from her eyes and stood up from her bed, putting her gun back where it belonged. "Well I thought it was worth a shot." She bent down and slid on her boots before firmly tying them. "So what now?"

Rock leant against the wall and looked at her seriously. "Well I meant what I said; I'd really prefer if you didn't get involved."

She gave him an impatient look as she finished tying the knot. "And why would that be Rock?"

"Well if you got killed I don't know what I'd d--"

It was then that Revy unloaded the contents of both her pistols in Rock's direction, which was quite a lot considering that she had recently invested in some extended magazines.

Rock looked at her with a shocked look on his face, even as all thirty bullets tinkled to the ground having been deflected by the two pistols now clutched _very_ firmly in his hands.

She glared at him angrily and paced towards him – it would've taken an idiot not to see her threatening posture. "You wouldn't know what to do?!"

Rock shrunk back, and couldn't help but wish that he could sink into the wall behind him. "What the fuck do you think I would do if _you _got killed you dipshit Rock?!"

By this time she was within a few meters of him, and she slammed her fist into the wall beside his head before continuing – but one thing about her shocked Rock: she was crying.

She brought her face within inches of his own and then screamed angrily at him, "Do you know how I felt when Balalaika was shooting into the ceiling and you were protecting me? I thought that you were going to die Rock!"

She closed her eyes and buried her head into his breast while repeatedly slamming her fist into his chest. "YOU IDIOT ROCK, I COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU! NOT WITH THE WAY I FEEL NOW!"

Rock looked down at the woman in front of him and didn't even make a move to defend himself from her vicious punches.

Slowly he brought his arms up and pulled her into an embrace, her onslaught ceasing when she felt his arms snaking around her back and all that was left was the sound of her sobs.

Rock and Revy stood there for what could've been hours, and it was Rock that finally broke the silence with a chuckle when he noticed that tears had been leaking from his eyes as well. "Geez."

Revy pulled back and looked at him questioningly; her eyes still red from the tears. He pulled a tissue from his pocket and dabbed the wet trails from her cheeks before taking care of himself. "If somebody had told me that I'd cry because I loved someone a year ago I would've shot them, and then laughed at their stupidity."

He pulled her to him once again and laughed lightly. "Looks like this love thing is making you and me soft Revy."

She nuzzled into his chest and gave a small smile. "I'm only like this when I'm alone with you, and you're only like this when you're around me; so I don't think we're weak – I'm stronger since I met you."

His eyes softened for a second at her words, but soon hardened when he remembered just why they were in this situation. "Revy." Hearing his serious tone she turned her head up to look at his face. "This doesn't involve you; you could walk away and you wouldn't be in any danger."

She was clearly about to interject, but Rock stopped her by pressing a finger to his lips. "I wasn't finished."

He let his finger drop and then continued. "But, if you want to help me then how can I object; I don't own you." He gave her a grin, "And after all, I couldn't ask for a better person to cover my back."

She smiled at him and nodded. "I'm coming with you."

He nodded and stepped away from the hard wall at his back. "Well this is going to be one hell of a journey, I'll tell you that. For someone to make it look like I had killed the Russian Mafia and Triad leaders it would take a lot of planning, a lot of money, and one hell of a motive."

He walked over to the bed which he had been sleeping in earlier and sat down in the chair which Dutch had been vacating earlier, motioning that Revy should sit opposite him.

Once she had settled herself he pulled a manila folder from his jacket, one he had picked up from his bedside table apparently left by Dutch as a sort of farewell gift. He opened up the cover and looked at the front piece of paper in amusement.

"What?"

He held up the piece of paper with a grin on his face. Revy looked at the piece of paper for a moment before gasping when she finally comprehended what it meant.

**Rokuro Okajima "Rock"**

**Wanted by the Russian Mafia and the Triad ALIVE.**

**$2,000,000 reward.**

"I really didn't think I was worth that much money." She looked at him in shock; how could he be so calm?! He scratched his head for a moment before humming thoughtfully. "But this sure does change things; I mean the Police will want to catch us, they're as corrupt as everyone else and 2 million dollars is quite a packet; bounty hunters will want in on the action and then there's the matter of the top assassins, the Russian Mafia and the Triad to worry about."

He rubbed his eyes in frustration. "Whoever planned this certainly had the intention of killing me." Revy's mouth opened and closed a few times, and Rock sent her an amused grin. "Not thinking of claiming the bounty now, are we?"

She jolted from her daydream before crossing her arms across her chest and pouting angrily. "Idiot, I wouldn't do that."

He raised an eyebrow curiously. "Who are you and what have you done with Revy?"

She punched him in the chest and smiled when she heard the breath whoosh out of his lungs. "You dipshit Rock, if I took you in then who the hell would I snog in my free time?"

Rock grinned and leant forward after tucking the folder back into his waistband, resting his chin on his clasped hands. "Good point."

His eyes roved around the room surrounding them and he hummed thoughtfully. "Well we're in one of the boatsheds down by the wharf, so Dutch must've brought us here after Balalaika had left."

He stood up from the bed after a moments silence and held out his hand to the sitting gunwoman. "Shall we?"

She grinned widely and took his hand. "Sure, let's get the hell out of here." The couple walked towards the door at the end of the shed and Rock reached his fingers out towards the handle.

He froze. Revy looked at his face and saw a look of depression on his normally calm features. "What?"

He unzipped his jacket and threw it to the ground beside him before sighing in exasperation. "I knew it was too ambitious to think that we could just walk out of here and get out of town without any problem."

Revy looked at the bottom of the door and sighed when she saw the light from outside. "It's night time isn't it?" Rock nodded. "And there aren't any lights around the wharf are there?" He shook his head and ran a hand through his jet-black hair.

Revy let the two empty magazines in her guns drop to the ground with a clatter before slamming two new clips into place.

Rock turned his head to look at her and grinned when he saw the bloodlust in her eyes. "Well well well, Revy two hands wants to have a bit of a shootout then?"

The deadly look in her eyes was more than enough to answer his question and he smirked as he pulled his own two guns from their holsters.

Before he burst through the door however, he turned to Revy with a challenge in his eyes. "Headshot 20 points, chest 10, and I reckon if you manage to blow off all their limbs then that counts as 100; what do ya think?"

She grinned sadistically at him. "You're on, loser shouts the other one to a dinner and as many drinks they can handle?"

He mirrored her grin, "Sounds good Revy." And with that he burst through the door. Rock was expecting the worst, and he was sorely disappointed at the turnout.

Immediately machine-gun fire lit up along the containers surrounding them, but before the bullets could even reach Rock and Revy they had been stopped by a rather extreme means that Rock saved specifically for demolishing the enemy's morale.

While the machine guns were fast, Rock was faster. Deathly silence rocketed across the battle ground as metal clanged to the ground halfway between the killer duo and the machine gunners.

There was some incomprehensible gurgling from most of the would-be bounty collectors as they looked at the smoking guns held in Rock's hands, his twisted smile in harsh contrast with the darkness surrounding him.

The majority of the fighters ran right there and then: any person that could shoot machine-gun bullets down in mid-air with a pistol wasn't worth fighting for all the money in the world as far as they were concerned.

The people that stayed however were clearly hardened assassins, Mafia and Triad members. Rock's grin widened as his smoking magazines clattered to the ground and he slipped two fresh clips into the red-hot guns. "So it's just us left then?"

Revy flicked off the safeties on her pistols and the click echoed around the silent expanse. Nobody moved for a moment, and then hell suddenly broke loose.

Rock brought his pistols up and immediately began firing at his opponents, Revy started up a moment later. A head came into the sight of Rock's pistol and with a squeeze of the trigger a fountain of blood erupted from where the man's skull had resided moments before. "That's a fifty Revy!"

She smirked at him as she kept firing. "Only fifty love? I'm already on two hundred!"

And so on it went, each shot from the killers' pistols taking another life, each shot ending in a bloody fountain until the battleground – now strewn with bloody corpses – fell silent once again.

Rock let out a relieved sigh and wiped a streak of blood from his cheek – that bullet had gotten way too close for comfort. "Well if Balalaika didn't hate me before, she's going to hate me now."

"Tch, amateurs."

Rock was just about to turn around to leave when his ears caught the faint sound of footsteps in the distance. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the noise; around 60kg, male – definitely, and a slight swagger.

His eyes snapped open and he let out a wild grin as the man came into sight. "Well Assassin Y, I didn't expect you to be here."

Said blonde-haired man gave Rock an insane grin. "Well I heard that there was a bounty on your life, and I could hardly pass up the chance to kill you."

The man's eyes widened dementedly and he let out a shrill laugh, his face pointed towards the sky. After a moment's laughing his head snapped back down and he locked eyes with Rock, a twisted smile on his lips.

Rock looked at the man with a disgusted look on his face. "What the fuck did they do to make you like this? I mean, I have been known to enjoy the odd fire fight – even boarder line insane shit but you – what the fuck Nick?"

Revy turned to look at Rock with a shocked look on her tanned features. "You know this fuck head?"

Rock nodded sadly as he looked at the crazed man standing across the battlefield. "Yeah, I know him. He partnered with me on quite a few missions."

He shook his head as if to dispel a thought in his head. "No, I don't know _him_." He pointed at the blonde, still glaring at Rock as if looks could kill. "I don't know him. The Nick I know was nothing like that – he was calm, cool and collected under pressure, and although he enjoyed killing he was nothing like thi--"

A scream from the other side of the expanse interrupted Rock mid-sentence. Rock turned to the origin of the yell with dull eyes, looking at the charging man as if he was deeply disappointed.

He slowly slid a new clip into one of his guns and slid the other into its holster. Still looking at his maddened ex-partner he spoke to Revy in a low voice. "Nick would never have done this, he never would've charged head on; something or someone made him like this."

He fired a shot at the man's feet and the blonde leapt back to land on a nearby container, his eyes still insane. "Nick once told me that if he ever became a slave of Nessus he wanted me to kill him in as brutal way as possible."

The blonde assassin charged once again and Rock raised his gun with a grim expression. "I intend to keep that promise."

Rock carefully aimed at the oncoming man and whispered three words before firing. "Rest in peace."

Sixteen shots rang out over the misty battle ground and Rock watched as his old friend was virtually blown apart; all four limbs separated from his body and a multitude of bullets in both his head and chest.

Rock lowered his guns and sighed, dropping his head to look at the tarmac at his feet. Revy looked at the assassin in front of her and – for the first time in her life – didn't know what to say.

After minutes of silence Revy placed a hand gently on Rock's shoulder. "Rock, we have to go."

He was still for a moment but then nodded and lifted his head before taking a deep breath to clear his head. "Okay, let's go."

He wrapped an arm protectively around Revy's shoulders and pulled her to his side before walking towards the nearby road. He looked down in surprise when he felt her fingers intertwine with his.

When he saw her comforting smile he allowed a small, thankful smile tease at his lips. "Sorry about that, he was a good friend."

She nodded in understanding before lifting up a finger as if remembering something monumentally important. "I owe you dinner and drinks!"

He gave a genuine grin at her jovial attitude and gave her a small squeeze. "That you do, but I think I'll pass on the drinks until this mess is over – chances are I'll need to be alert at all times."

She pouted at his comment. "Fine, suit yourself."

He raised an eyebrow and a small smile tugged at his lips. "I hate to break it to you Revy, but that includes you too."

She let out a humph, but then looked up at her lovers face with a question in her eyes. "What's Nessus?"

Rock's eyes darkened at the mention of the name, but cleared after a few moments. "I'll tell you once we get out of town – for now we need to find a vehicle."


	4. Revelations

Revy looked down at her new attire with a mixture of disgust and happiness. A strapless, black dress that hugged her curves in just the right way, with one sleeve for her right arm so that her tattoo was covered.

She was disgusted because it was a dress, and she really didn't like being in dresses; too hard to move in when there was a shoot-out.

She was happy because of two things; firstly the dress allowed her to carry both of her guns in thigh holsters along with a combat knife strapped to her calf, and secondly she'd managed to give Rock a hard-on when she walked out of the changing room – he tried to hide it, and would've been successful had Revy not walked over and gripped it through his pants.

The shop attendant was less than impressed.

She was waiting for that exact man, and due to the fact that he was five minutes late and she'd been standing out in the cold for that time she was not the happiest lady in the world.

A second later however, she nearly jumped out of her skin when Rock dropped right in front of her, apparently having jumped from the rooftop above. "Sorry about the lateness…" His voice trailed off when he – for the second time that day – saw Revy in the dress.

He had better luck suppressing his physical reaction to the stimulus this time however.

Likewise, Revy was looking at Rock in astonishment. Dressed in a pair of smart black pants, a black shirt finely embroidered with a red, flaming bird with its top two buttons undone.

The jet-black suit top topped it all off, it was a fair sight different from his usual attire. It would be a complete and utter lie if Revy was to say that she didn't feel a slight tingle at his appearance.

Her annoyance forgotten – much to Rock's relief – a question soon found its way into her mind, their appearance being the first port of call. "Um, Rock?"

He turned his head slightly as they walked down the street with her holding onto his arm. "Hm?"

She looked at her flowing dress and then at Rock's very smart suit, "Just where the hell are we going?"

He gave her a small smile, the first since they had left Roanapur a week previously. The reason for his expression was made blatantly clear when they rounded the corner and their destination became apparent.

She looked up at Rock's face with a shocked look, and continued to do so as they breezed through the doors, Rock apparently being on a first name basis with both the doorman and the manager, and into the beautiful dining room.

Her mouth hanging open the entire time, the couple were shown to a table near the very back of the room which was clearly reserved for very important guests.

The waiter left them to get settled once they arrived, and after sitting Revy in her seat Rock proceeded to sit down himself and take a sip of the whiskey that was already on the table – he gave a nod of thanks to the manager across the room for that. After a few minutes of silence Rock spoke. "So, what do you think?"

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she managed to squeeze out the words. "Wh- how?!"

He gave her a sly smile and a wink. "I just happen to have saved the managers life during the Bulkhead revolution."

The evening slowly passed, and before long their dinners were in front of them. Revy looked at the huge plate of food in amazement. "I thought these kinds of places only made those tiny little meals!"

Rock began eating and nodded in approval at the meal. "They do, but I seem to always get the best whenever I come here."

Revy looked at Rock in wonder before digging into her own food with vigour. Halfway through the meal however, she remembered the question that she'd been dying to ask for the entire week.

Rock picked up on her uneasiness and placed his knife and fork on the table before speaking. "We're sat back here for a reason; the windows beside us are three inch thick panes of bulletproof glass and they're one way."

He sighed and took a drink of water that he'd poured himself earlier. "I knew that I'd have to tell you someday because you're my gir--" He cut himself short with a frown. "Huh."

Revy mirrored his frown. "What?"

He sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. "I've just realized, I've never asked you to be my girlfriend." Revy looked at him in shock – how could he change the topic so quickly?

Seeming not to notice her astounded look he queried her. "I mean, what are we?" She was about to answer, but was surprised when no answer came – she hadn't thought about it.

Her and Rock just…_were._ He nodded when he saw her helpless expression. "Mm, odd. Well in any case I'd best ask now: Revy, will you be my girlfriend?"

An astonished nod and a small, shocked gurgle later gave Rock his answer, and he sighed in relief before giving her a sheepish smile. "I was worried you would say no."

She looked around the room once again before catching his eye, which clearly showed that he knew he had been found out. He gave a small chuckle. "Well impressing the girl who you want to be your girlfriend certainly doesn't hurt, does it?"

Another gurgle ensued, and it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon – as such, Rock decided to move onto the topic that had been hanging over him for the past week.

To anyone who was paying attention to the young, smartly dressed, black-haired man it would've been blatantly obvious that his mood had changed; his shoulders tensed up, his eyes dulled, and his facial expression truly showed a person who had seen far too much in their lifetime.

Although still somewhat confused and astounded by the actual, solid confirmation that they were a couple now, Revy still picked up on the immense change in the person in front of her.

Her eyes softened and she reached over the table to touch his hand. "Rock…"

He took a deep breath and shook his head before catching her eye and giving her a forced smile. "Well now you're my girlfriend you have the right to know just who you're dating."

He ran his free hand through his messed hair before continuing. "I was twenty when they came for me. I had been in the army for two years at that point, but the fact that I had killed before being there was blatantly apparent to everyone around me – where they hesitated on the battlefield I didn't; where they died I survived." He chuckled humourlessly. "Needless to say that I wasn't overly popular with anyone at the base, and when I was offered the chance to work with people like me I jumped to it."

He looked at his new girlfriend sitting opposite him. "I'm twenty six. If I was like everyone else in the program then I'd still be training to be an assassin for Nessus. I'm not normal."

In a blur of motion his hand flicked, and a second later a man across the room collapsed in a heap. While the people surrounding him hurried to his aid, Rock took a sip of water. "He was one of Chang's men."

Revy's eyes widened and she moved to get up from her seat, but was pulled down before she could cause a scene. She looked at Rock in confusion and he gave her hand a squeeze coupled with a reassuring smile. "I wouldn't worry, he didn't even see us – they don't know we're in this town yet."

He took another sip of water and then continued. "Within a year I was considered the top assassin in the organization, and within two I was the head of my departmen--" He cut himself off when he saw Revy's eyes flicking towards the collapsed man. "He's not dead."

She turned to him with a slightly angered look. "Well he sure the fuck looks like he is!"

He shook his head. "Nope, just a mild tranquilizer with a little surprise added in – he'll be throwing up for at least a week after that."

Satisfied that he had calmed the brown-eyed beauty opposite him, he once again continued with the tale. "I couldn't go any higher than that in Nessus, but I was a pivotal element in the organization."

He turned to Revy with a questioning look in his eyes. "How many people have you killed?"

"Three hundred and sixty two."

He nodded, impressed. "See, you're different to other people I've met. Other assassins, soldiers, whatever, if you ask them how many people they've killed do you know what they say?" Revy frowned and shook her head.

Her answer caused Rock to smile thinly. "They say that they don't know; that they lost count." Revy snorted and took a sip of her own water at his answer.

He nodded in agreement. "Exactly; you never lose count. Pretending that killing people doesn't affect you is useless, that and you can end up like my old partner."

He looked out the window at the night sky and sighed. "I was getting to be that way Revy – I killed because I was told to. Hell, I think I lost the ability to think for myself – I didn't even kill for money; I killed for no purpose at all. In the Bulkhead revolution I killed exactly nine hundred and sixty six people in just two days; women, children, high ranking officials, whoever I was told to kill I did."

He shrugged slightly. "I don't know the reasons why anybody I killed then had to die. Were they criminals? Probably not, at least with what I know about Nessus now. Were they a nuisance to Nessus' international network of corporate conglomerates? Knowing what I know now, the chances are that that was the only reason for their deaths. The thing that irks me is that I'm not angry that I killed those people, the reason that I'm angry is because I had no say in the matter: I didn't have a choice."

He leant his chin on an upturned palm and observed the glowing moon outside. "Once you're a part of Nessus, you never leave – if you left then you died, whether you wanted to or not."

A grim smile spread across his face with the next sentence. "When they gave me the green light to finally kill you I had a revelation: I didn't want to…"

**Flashback**

"_X, we have decided that it is time that you completed your mission – it should be executed tonight and we'll expect you back at base tomorrow morning; your new passports have been arranged in the usual manner."_

_Assassin X faced the screen in front of him with a look of confusion on his face, and his expression was not lost on the man on the other end of the line. "Is there a problem with that X?_

_Flashes of Revy surfaced in Assassin X's mind and he nodded slowly at the screen. "Yes, there is."_

_The man raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Is the timing not acceptable?"_

_Assassin X lifted his eyes to lock gazes with the speaker half way across the world. "Affirmative."_

_Another surprised look from the man. "Then when will you dispose of the mission objective?"_

_Assassin X paused for a second; still trying to understand the raw emotions flowing through him, and it seemed that the man on the laptop was more than willing to let the black-haired killer take his time constructing his answer._

_Nearly five minutes later Rock finally spoke, not Assassin X. "Sir, the mission objective will not be assassinated so long as I am alive."_

_The man's demeanour immediately changed from that of a calm and powerful man to that of a toddler about to throw all of his toys out of the cot._

_In a low voice that spoke volumes of his current temperament, he spoke. "Are you saying what I think you're saying X?"_

_The black-haired man cocked his head slightly to the side and regarded the man in front of him with a look of utter bewilderment on his face. "I see now, so this is what all that training was supposed to do."_

_His eyes roamed the room around him and fell on a picture of him and Revy slugging back drinks at the Yellow Flag. It wasn't the fact that he was actually drinking, or even the fact that he was drinking with the target that perturbed him; instead it was the fact that his eyes were those of a killer, cold and emotionless._

_He wanted that picture to show his happiness at sharing a drink with a beautiful woman, he wanted to feel. He turned back to the man on the screen – who by this time was turning a fascinating shade of purple – and did something that he hadn't done for the past six years; Rock laughed. "You bastards actually managed to nearly destroy my personality!"_

_He chuckled for a few more moments before smiling jovially at the furious man in front of him, happy for once that he was half a world away from the manipulative old sod. "Well yes sir, I am saying exactly what you're thinking."_

_His face turned grave all of a sudden and the furious man half way across the world couldn't help but shy away from the screen slightly. "And now that I'm me again, I realize that I am very angry that you ordered me to kill Rebecca – in fact I'm so angry that I'm going to come and assassinate the entire Nessus council so that no attempts are made on her life or mine."_

_His eyes returned to normal after a moment and he gave the man a cherry grin. "Rest assured sir, the next time we meet will be the last."_

_With a simple tap of a button the video connection was severed and Rock sat back on his bed, his hands clasped behind his head and a contented smile on his face._

_His smile widened when a second later a gunshot rang out from the next room, followed by Revy's highly irritated voice. "BENNY!!!"_

**End Flashback**

He turned back to the stunning woman in front of him and smiled warmly – something that his old comrades would have thought him incapable of. "But now I do have something to fight for – I want a future, and I want you to be in that future."

It was at this point that Rock felt something that he hadn't felt in a very, very long time while Revy had her mouth hanging slightly open at his revelation.

At first he thought he was suffering a heart attack, but no – the symptoms didn't match up. He had a tight chest –check, he was breaking out in a cold sweat – check, light-headedness – check, but no chest pain, which meant that he wasn't having a heart attack.

With a start he realized that he was nervous as hell. He stood from his chair and walked around the table so that he was level with the lavender-haired woman.

Her face showed confusion, but when he got down on one knee there was no doubt about what he was doing.

Revy wasn't the only one to notice, and virtually the whole room had fallen silent when the young man got down on his knee. "Revy, since the moment I met you I think I was in love with you. You changed me from the heartless killer that I was into the man that I am now, and I hope that that man is enough to be worthy of you."

He reached into his jacket pocket and proceeded to pull out a small, velvet box. Revy was certain that _she_ was having a heart attack at this point, and the only thing she could do to not pass out on the spot was to focus on the man knelt in front of her.

"Revy, I want you by my side until the moment I leave this Earth, I want you to be mine and I want you to have all of who I am." He cracked open the small box and Revy, along with quite a few of the other females in the room, let out an amazed gasp at the stunning ring inside. "Rebecca Li, will you do me the absolute honour of being my wife?"

A deadly silence engulfed the huge room, nobody moved and even the waiters and chefs had paused to see what would happen.

Nobody was disappointed. Rock found himself tackled to the ground in a passionate embrace; Revy's lips pressed firmly to his and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

After a moment the smiling woman pulled back and smiled at the wide-eyed man beneath her. "Of course I'll fuckin' marry you!"

His eyes widened further. "Really?!" Her timid nod was more than enough of an answer, and he fumbled around on the floor before getting a hold of the small velvet box and pulling the ring from its plush housing.

He looked into her eyes one last time, questioning. She nodded happily, and with the widest smile he had ever had in his life Rock took her left hand in his and proceeded to slide the elegant platinum band onto her finger.

He looked at her bright eyes and awed expression before sitting up and wrapping her in a tight embrace, which was followed by the spontaneous eruption of applause from all of the other guests in the room.

The pair separated with matching blushes when they realized the attention that they had managed to attract and quickly returned to their seats and waited for the mumble of conversation to return before speaking to one another.

Revy looked at the ring in absolute awe and Rock chuckled sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. "I know it was awfully sudden but I stand by what I said; I want you with me until I die."

She smiled up at him. "It would be my absolute fuckin' pleasure. When's the wedding?"

Rock's eyes widened and he gave her an incredulous look. "Isn't it just a little bit early to be thinking about that?!"

She raised an eyebrow and a dangerous glint appeared in her chocolate-brown eyes. "You haven't thought about the fucking wedding?"

"Well it's not that I haven't thought about it, I just thought that I'd talk to you first to see whether you wanted to wait until all of this mess with the Russian Mafia and the Triad was over."

Her eyes cleared and she nodded before sinking into deep thought. Rock finished off his dinner while he waited for her answer and proceeded to look around the huge room around them, turning his head back to his fiancé when she cleared her throat. "I've decided," He raised an eyebrow in inquiringly, "To get married as soon as we possibly can."

He gave her an amused chuckle and looked her right in the eyes. "Honestly Revy, I never expected anything less."

He called over a waiter and asked for the desert menu before turning back to Revy and pretending to think until the waiter returned with the menus.

He picked it up and hid his face behind the card and made sure to look at Revy's reflection in the window. "Well tomorrow sounds good; I've already talked to the priest and he's happy to do it then."

Revy's reaction didn't disappoint him in the least. Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened and for the third time that night she let out a surprised gurgle.

Rock dropped his menu to the table and took a sip of water before regarding Revy with a look of mock concern. "You alright there love?"

After a few moments she gathered herself enough to speak. "T-to- tomorrow?"

He nodded in the affirmative. "Uhuh." He fixed her with a slightly worried stare. "Is that a problem?"

For the second time that night he was tackled to the floor in an embrace, and the majority of guests in the room chuckled at the shocked young man held tightly in Revy's arms.

She lifted her head back from the crook of his shoulder and smiled happily. "No, it's fuckin' great!"

He looked around and smiled at a few of the men that were giving him knowing looks before helping Revy to her feet and sitting her back down at the table.

After taking a minute to calm down from the excitement, Rock's mood darkened somewhat. "Revy, I have a feeling that as soon as the wedding's finished we're going to have to leave town."

At her questioning look he explained. "Once the marriage certificate is filed Balalaika and Chang are going to find out about it right away, so right afterwards you and I are heading off to the airport where a private jet is waiting for us."

Another surprised and questioning look from Revy and Rock smiled. "I'm using up all the favours I have to finish this thing, and trust me when I say that I have a lot of favours piled up."

"Where do we go after that?"

"We're landing in Russia and staying in one of my old safe houses for a week or two so that we can stock up on weapons, armour and the like – then I'll contact some high-ranking officials that I know and start to find out just who the fuck is trying to get me killed."

She smiled smuttily at him and Rock raised his eyebrows inquiringly. "Russia…sounds awful cold."

She let out a depressed sigh, but a suggestive smile teased at the corners of her lips. "What a shame, with it being winter over there now it looks like we'll be spending a lot of our honeymoon in bed keeping warm."

Rock sprayed his mouthful of water all over the waiter.


	5. Sochi Russia

**Sochi – Russia**

The view was amazing; the sun was just peaking over the mountains on the further side of the Black Sea, the water was glittering in anticipation of the suns presence, and the city of Sochi was almost still save for a few cars travelling along the city's paved streets.

A singular man watched this scene, sitting comfortably out on a balcony while nursing a steaming cup of coffee that he had brewed just a few minutes previous.

The topless, black-haired man took a sip out of the cup he was holding and let out a contented sigh.

Twenty hours ago they had left the small town just outside Roanapur via Rock's hastily arranged private jet, and had arrived after nearly eleven hours of flying – not the most exciting flight but it gave Rock and Revy some snuggling time before they reached their destination.

After arriving at the local airport the couple immediately hailed a cab and went to Rock's safe house, after which the two of them promptly fell asleep because of the past 24 hours' events.

A smile spread across the young man's face at the memories and he sat back in the deck chair before bringing the recent events to the surface…

**Flashback**

_Rock looked anxiously at his watch, and mentally slapped himself when he saw that there was still five minutes to go before Revy was due to arrive. The priest looked at the nervous man and grinned. "First time?"_

_Rock nodded. "And the last."_

_The old man nodded his head knowingly. "That's what they all say." Rock raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't bother addressing the issue further; he knew that he'd never leave Revy and that was all that mattered to him._

_A moment later the doors opened and Revy walked in, followed by two people that he had managed to – with immense effort – invite to the ceremony without their rival's attention. _

_The big, black, mountain of a man was followed shortly after by the scrawny, blonde-haired Benny who had somehow managed to look smart enough to attend a wedding. _

_Rock would've greeted the two men whom he considered family, but his attention was miles away from the two of them at that moment. The woman walking towards him was clearly not accustomed to dressing in such a way, but the fact that she had actually worn the pure white dress he had given her the night before lifted his spirits, and awed him like nothing ever had in his entire life._

_Rock wasn't normally an overly sappy guy, but any person who dared ruin the moment he was having right then would be sent straight to hell._

_As she neared the altar he caught her eye and a faint blush spread across her features when she saw the look he was giving her; the look of appreciation and love in his grey orbs. _

_She slowly walked up the steps until she was level with Rock and gave him a stunning smile before turning to face the minister. _

_The ceremony was unremarkable apart from the peacefulness of the vows, and the fact that they weren't being shot at._

_Out of the corner of his eye Rock could see the dumbfounded looks that they were receiving from Dutch and Benny at their completely changed attitudes, and gave them a small grin for their trouble. _

_Finally it was time, and Rock reached into his pocket before pulling out an intricately engraved, white-gold band with a small, yet pure diamond in the centre._

_As he slipped it onto her finger he whispered quietly to her so that the minister couldn't hear. "Cullinan." Her eyes widened at the word and he nodded with a mischievous grin. "Only the best for you Revy." _

_Coming out of her shock she reached – much to the approval of Rock, but not so much the minister – into her cleavage and pulled his ring from its hiding place._

_A pure, white gold band with a small yellow gem in the middle was held in her hand, and when she slid it onto his finger she too whispered something. "Only the best for you Rock." _

_He frowned for a second and inspected the gem further, and his head shot up to look at her when he realized the significance of the small gem. "The Golden Jubilee?!" He mouthed. She nodded and smiled when his mouth dropped a fraction. _

_The minister clearing his throat brought them both back to the present and he raised his hands. "I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride."_

_And so he did._

**End Flashback**

After the ceremony both him and Revy had bid their two good friends goodbye for the time being, and immediately went to the airport after changing into slightly less conspicuous clothes.

Rock looked down at the ring glittering in the morning light and smiled softly. "How the hell did she manage to get _this_?"

"You're not the only one who has favo--" She cut herself off when he saw his arm, or rather what was on it. A stunningly intricate tattoo of a wolf curled around his entire right arm, its head coming out on the back of his shoulder and its head tilted into a howl. When

Rock saw the object of his wife's attention he widened his eyes in surprise, "Of course, you wouldn't have seen this before, would you?"

She shook her head in wonder and walked over to him, the sheets still clutched around her naked body before reaching out with her hand and tracing the fine lines that seemed to make the creature come alive.

He sat down in the chair and pulled Revy into his arms – receiving a peck on the lips from the stunning woman - before explaining. "I'm the head of the pack – as much as Nessus hates to admit it. I'm the best assassin they ever had, which by extension makes me the best in the world, and so they gave me this as a reward when I wasn't in their bad-books."

She nodded and snuggled into his chest, mumbling sleepily. "What are we doing today?"

He got comfortable in the chair and thought for a moment. "Well at twelve we have an arms dealer coming over; at three you and I have a meeting with the head of the Department of Internal Affairs; at five I'm expecting a package from an information broker back here, and at seven we have dinner reservations at the Krasnaya Polyana."

He looked down at her face and grinned when he saw her smiling into his chest sleepily. "Sounds good."

The newly married couple watched the sunrise and were just about to greet each other a little more intimately when there was an unexpected knock at the door.

Rock frowned and peered at his watch. "I'm not expecting anybody." He eased Revy off his lap and pulled the two guns he had hidden down the sides of the chair to bear.

He peered over the balcony to search for any intruders, and on finding none motioned that Revy should hide behind the bed.

She nodded her understanding and followed him inside before parting with him at the door to the bedroom with a peck to his cheek.

As he approached the door he tensed up, ready to react at a moment's notice. "Who is it?"

A disapproving grunt came from the other side of the thick wall followed by some angry muttering. "So this is how you treat your fellow assassins is it?"

Rock raised his guns at the mention of a 'fellow assassin' and questioned the unknown guest in a very dangerous voice. "The last 'fellow assassin' that I met was Y, and it turned out that he'd driven himself insane and had taken it upon himself to kill me."

"Well Nick was hardly the strongest of mind now was he?"

Rock frowned – the voice sounded awfully familiar. "Assassin, identify yourself."

"Well I'm not an assassin for Nessus anymore so perhaps I should just give you my name? I'm sure that will be sufficien--" The voice faded away for a second and Rock squeezed lightly on his triggers expecting an attack at any moment.

What he wasn't expecting was a loud laugh from the other side of the heavy wooden door, followed by a very teasing voice. "Oh commander, has somebody got a woman in there?"

Rock couldn't help but blush and his silence prompted the unknown visitor to prod a little bit more. "And was the woman in question stark naked a few minutes ago?"

Rock's silence apparently answered everything, and the door suddenly burst open. Rock fired off two rounds, but found that they were quickly reflected off a pair of outstretched pistols.

Expecting the worst Rock closed his eyes and waited for the bullets to impact on his body. What he wasn't expecting was the full weight of the gun-bearing man to come down on him, and to be wrapped in a tight bear hug with the attacker proudly proclaiming to the heavens that 'COMMANDER! YOU'RE A BLOODY MAN NOW!"

Rock yelled into the man's shirt and pushed the man away, "Who the bloody hell are--"

When he caught sight of just who the visitor was his eyes widened in amazement, and the attacker became the attacked a moment later when Rock pulled the man into a huge hug. "Z you bloody wanker, you had me half scared to shit!"

It was at that moment that there was the sound of two safeties being switched off simultaneously and the two embracing men slowly turned to look up at Revy – both of her guns pointed directly at the intruder's head.

The man looked between Rock and the very angry Revy for a few moments before yelling in excitement and punching the ex-assassin jokingly in the arm, a look of absolute hilarity on his face. "Well commander, I never expected you to ever get with a girl – let alone an absolute beauty like this one, and by the looks of it she knows how to handle a gun as well."

Rock twisted in the man's grip and proceeded to throw him forcefully into one of the adjoining rooms before standing up, brushing himself off and walking into the kitchen, hollering behind him as he went. "Still have two coffees and one sugar Z?"

A pained grunt came from the room a moment later. "Cheers commander but I'll just have what you're having, and it's just Gary now; when Nessus went down I left."

Revy looked at the man sprawled awkwardly in the empty bedroom for a moment before storming through to the kitchen and emptying both clips of her pistols at Rock's exposed back.

In a blur Rock was facing her with a meat cleaver held in his hand, now dented where the forty bullets had been deflected. He looked down at the knife before lifting his head and regarding his wife with a raised eyebrow. "I liked that knife."

She motioned angrily towards the room containing the debilitated assassin with her pistols. "Who the hell is he?"

"That's Z- no, that's Gary. He's kind of like a little brother to me to tell you the truth." He turned back to the coffee grinder and continued brewing the coffee. "I was his commander, and he was pretty much second to me in the organization."

He turned to smile at Revy. "I honestly didn't expect him to turn up here though." He turned his head and watched as Gary stumbled out of the bedroom rubbing his head. "Didn't throw you too hard, did I?"

Gary looked up at Rock and gave him a sheepish grin. "Nah, I just wasn't expecting it." He walked into the kitchen and looked at Revy – now dressed in some cargo pants and a tank top – apologetically before holding out his hand. "Sorry for the sudden visit, didn't mean to worry you."

Revy smiled, a little bit more comfortable now that she knew the history between her husband and the man, and shook his hand. "No problem. I'm Revy, Rock's wi--" She was abruptly cut off by Rock's hand being firmly over her mouth, but he was forgetting one thing.

Gary leant towards the hand covering Revy's mouth and then lifted his head to catch Rock's eyes with his own. "Probably should've used the other hand commander."

Rock frowned for a second before realizing that his ring was clearly visible, and he immediately dropped his hand. "Fuck."

Gary let out a suggestive chuckle. "I didn't figure you for a cheating man Sir." Rock gave him a look that clearly questioned the younger man's intelligence, and before long the blonde-haired man's eyes widened. "Unless…"

His eyes shot down to look at Revy's left hand, and upon finding a ring, gurgled. His eyes shot between the pair, both of whom were looking at him with identical looks of amusement, and he gurgled again. "You – her – commander?"

Rock chuckled and handed the younger man his hot cup of coffee. "Just as you are no longer Z, I am no longer X, and that means that I'm no longer your commander."

He walked over the table and settled himself before pulling Revy into his lap and motioning that Gary should take the seat opposite. "So just call me Rock from now on."

"Bu--"

His head was snapping between both their faces in absolute astonishment, and Rock felt a little bit sorry for the clueless man; it darn near looked like his word had fallen down around his shoulders.

Rock chuckled and gave Revy's lips a small peck before looking at his friend. "And yes Gary, this woman here is Mrs Okajima – although she would definitely prefer Revy; when I teased her last night about that she emptied an entire clip at me…in the cab."

Gary looked at the seemingly gentle woman in front of him and chortled loudly, "Ah you had me going there for a sec--"

He immediately cut himself off when he found a gun held in Revy's hand aimed directly at his face, her face still snuggled into Rock's chest, and a contented smile still present on her lips. "Ah." Gary quickly backtracked. "Sorry about that Revy."

After the gun had been lowered and Revy had left the table to go and cook herself some breakfast, Gary and Rock got down to business.

The blonde-haired man leaned forward and rested his chin on his clasped hands. "I'm sure that you guessed that I'm not simply here for a social visit."

Rock nodded in confirmation and the man continued. "When you two entered the country a camera picked you up at the airport in Moscow where you refuelled for the small hop to here. Unfortunately somebody saw the poster that the Mafia and Triad had put out and contacted them at their offices in Roanapur."

Rock sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, I didn't think they'd find out so quickly."

The blonde man nodded. "Well they did, but I can reassure you that they won't find out that you're here for another two days – I played havoc with the flight plan listings and they'll damn near have to interrogate the entire airport staff before they can pinpoint your position."

He sat back in his chair when Revy re-joined them at the table and began eating. He sat silent for a second before snapping back to the present, apparently having been reliving an old memory.

He clapped his hands together and once again leaned forward in his seat. "As such you will no longer be staying at this safe house – you'll be staying in my villa in the outskirts of Kashin; lots of nice, flat ground to see the enemy coming and it's insured, so feel free to blow it up or whatever you feel like doing."

He stood up from his chair and fumbled about in his pocket for a moment before throwing a thick envelope to Rock, followed by a ring of keys.

He pointed to the two items in his hand and nodded. "The plane leaves in two hours from the local airport, and the keys unlock the house and the armoury in the basement. You know the authorisation codes for the pilot and the house; same as the Bulkhead revolution."

He turned his back on the couple and held up a hand in farewell. "No need to thank me Rock, it's what friends do, right?" Rock watched the man's retreating back in amazement; he'd sure grown up since they last saw each other.

Just as the ex-assassin was about to open the door he turned to Rock with a questioning look. "Just why the hell did you come to Russia? I mean, of all places you could've chosen you chose the one where the Russian Mafia has the strongest hold, why?"

Rock looked at the young man carefully, choosing his next words carefully. "He still alive?"

Gary's eyes widened at the implications of Rock's statement. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

He shook his head in shock before turning back to him. "Yeah, he's still around but are you serious?" Rock nodded and Gary's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Just what do you plan on doing to him?"

"I just need information, that's all Gary."

"Hm." He seemed to think for a second before reaching into his pocket once again and pulling out a thin plastic card.

He walked back over to the table and placed it on the cold glass. "Well you'll find the door for this next to the armoury, and that'll do you right for intelligence gathering; I've got everything you need."

He pulled Rock into a brotherly hug and wished him luck and then shook Revy's hand once more before leaving the two newlyweds by themselves.

While Revy finished her breakfast, Rock opened the thick envelope and sighed when two passports dropped out. "Bastard knew that you were with me from the very beginning."

He handed Revy her new passport and grinned. "Well Mrs Viktoriya Vasilev, it would seem that you and Adrik are a newly wedded couple and are travelling around Russia together."

She looked at Rock with a raised eyebrow. "Viktoriya and Adrik?"

He grinned happily. "It would seem so." He peered into the envelope again and pulled out a few pieces of paper, his face darkening when he saw what was printed on them.

Printed neatly on the pure white sheets were pictures and they hinted at just who had set him up. Rock wasn't happy – he thought that this man was dead.

Revy saw his troubled look and frowned. "What's wrong?" He placed the paper in front of her and she looked at the pictures carefully, trying to put an identity to the balding, white-haired man on the paper. "Who is he?"

"That's the man that sent me to kill you." Her eyes widened and she looked at the picture again, looking into the eyes of the man that had ordered her execution. "I killed him. I shot him straight through the head, and then I went down to the body, strapped a block of C4 to the corpse and then detonated it."

He glared at the recent date on the pictures and Revy looked at him, concerned. "He shouldn't be alive."

It was then that Rock spotted something written on the back side of the paper, and when he read the handwritten note he gasped. "The fucker had a twin."

He sat in his chair deep in thought for a few minutes, and stood up when Revy had finished her meal. "Well that's just another problem that we'll have to deal with, but for now we need to pack – we've got a flight in just under two hours."

Revy nodded and walked through to the kitchen to wash her plate, but froze when she remembered something in the conversation between Rock and Garry. "Hey Rock?"

"Yeah?" He poked his head out of the bedroom door.

"Who was _that_ man?"

Rock laughed at her slightly apprehensive expression before ducking back into the bedroom to continue packing. "Him? Don't get so worried – it's a bit of an inside joke that me and Garry have; you'll understand when we meet him."

Two hours later Mr and Mrs Vasilev arrived at the local airport and met with yet another private jet that would take them to the airport in Kashin.

It was blatantly obvious however, that the crew on the private jet were far tighter-lipped than the previous one – and when Rock was faced with three assault rifles aimed in his direction upon their arrival in the hanger he nodded in satisfaction: neither Balalaika or Chang would get anything out of these blokes.

After giving the safe-word to the armed crew both Revy and Rock boarded the sleek jet and sunk into the plush seats inside.

After take-off Revy once again began to fall asleep, as did Rock.

Her last words, slurred by the sleep consuming her mind and muffled by Rock's chest, made said man smile.

"Fucking Russians get everything."


	6. Kashin In

**A/N (KennethRose): Well here is chapter five! For all you explosion loving adrenaline junkies out there then this chapter might not be your cup of tea – the next one might be more to your liking, but if you like a little bit of lemon then this might just hit the spot! This is the first time in my life that I've written a lemon scene but be warned – I'm going to do it tastefully; no nasty words or violent sex here. If none of this phases you then read on and enjoy!**

**-**

Arriving at the small town of Kashin took far longer than expected due to the insane amount of ground that they covered. Flying all over the place randomly increased the security of the trip, and due to half of the places being American and Russian air force bases it should take an unbelievable amount of investigating for anybody to find them.

What could've been a four hour trip turned into a twelve, and by the time the pair arrived at Gary's villa, darkness had engulfed the landscape and once again the couple were knackered and fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

The next day however, both of them awakened to each other's smiles and they got about securing the property refreshed.

At five degrees Celsius the weather was warm for the season, and both Revy and Rock hauled their huge packs filled with landmines out onto the surrounding landscape and began planting them in a large circle around the villa which – now that they could actually see it – was very grand indeed.

At midday the couple returned to the house and greeted the local grocer who had arrived with food that had been ordered by Gary for the two of them. They thanked the old man and headed inside to warm themselves up.

Revy sat on one of the counter seats looking at a map of the property while Rock began cooking some lunch.

She pulled a pen from one of the drawers and traced a line around the property to mark where they had planted landmines so far.

Rock looked over and nodded appreciatively. "Good, we'll be done by about three."

After finishing the lunch that Rock had prepared, they returned to their mine-laying and true to Rock's suspicions finished at around three o'clock.

Revy wiped the sweat off her forehead – happy for once that the weather was cold – and turned to Rock. "Now what?"

His grin told her that she wasn't going to enjoy it. Sure enough, the words 'laying large wads of C4, tripwires and early warning systems' and 'enjoyable' most certainly were not synonymous in Revy's mind, and by five o'clock she was cursing Rock for his careful planning.

When the pair returned to the house both of them were covered in dirt, and very hungry.

Deciding that feeding their rumbling stomachs was more pressing than washing themselves for the time being, Rock once again set about preparing a meal while Revy marked out all of the countermeasures they had installed on the property map.

After about five minutes she sat back in her chair and looked at Rock like he was crazy. She stabbed a finger accusingly at the satellite picture. "Rock you dipshit, the back end of the fuckin' property is completely undefended!"

Not pausing from cutting the cabbage he nodded. "Uhuh, because when they come they'll come from the main road."

"Balalaika and Chang aren't that fuckin' stupid Rock!"

He froze and turned to face her with an enquiring eyebrow. "And are you implying that I am?"

When he got no answer he chuckled, and then threw the cabbage into the boiling water. "They'll come from the main road because they'll expect you and me to act like mercenaries; they'll be expecting that we laid traps at the back of the property because _they_ think that _we_ think that they'll be sneaky and attack from there."

He shrugged and began browning the meat in a pan. "They'll come right down the driveway, and if they don't then I'll just let rip with the hundred blocks of C1 at the back of the property; that should at least scare them enough to let us get away safely."

She looked at the man so calmly cooking her dinner in wonder; if she didn't know any better, she'd say that a man with a face like him couldn't, and wouldn't hurt a fly.

About an hour later Rock called into the lounge and Revy emerged a moment later, a hungered look in her eyes.

He chuckled at her expression and sat down opposite her before digging into the food with almost as much enthusiasm as his female companion. After a moment's chewing Revy looked up at Rock in surprise. "Holy fuckin' shit! This is really good!"

He laughed at her surprise. "Well there's only so much polystyrene a man can eat before he starts to go mad, so I taught myself to cook when I was in Nessus."

Eating at a slower pace, the two of them shared stories about their pasts and laughed at a couple of crude jokes that Revy offered to the conversation.

After Revy had grabbed her fifth bowl of Rock's dinner her eyes darkened, and Rock was immediately concerned. "Revy, is everything okay?"

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and smiled at him warmly. "Yeah, everything is fine now."

He watched as she ate his meal and saw that she was thinking deeply about something, something that she'd been holding inside for far too long. "Want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Rock's pointed look made it very clear what he was referring to, and she sighed before finishing her plate and placing her utensils neatly on the table. "It's just a stupid fuckin' memory."

Seeing that Rock wouldn't let the matter go she dropped her head and nodded. He waited patiently for her to speak, and when she did he had his full attention focused on her words. "When I was about fourteen, I was working for this dickhead gangster – stealing stuff and occasionally murdering someone if he wanted them dead. One night I came back to where I lived – a grimy little piece of shit apartment in a rundown part of the city – and three of his men were there, waiting for me. I asked them what the fuck they wanted and they just leered at me."

Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, Rock immediately took the seat to her left and placed his hand over hers reassuringly. Sensing that he was there, she continued. "They came so fast, I didn't know what to do. They pinned me down and then started…" She trailed off, and tears began to run down her cheeks.

Rock was floored, what could they have done? A thought suddenly hit him and his mood darkened. "Revy, what did they do to you?"

She stuttered a couple of times before managing to continue with the memory, her sentences interrupted by her sobs. "They started to take off my clothes Rock, a-and they started t-t-touching me."

She buried her head into his chest and began sobbing uncontrollably, the pain and humiliation she had been holding in for so many years finally pouring out of her.

Rock simply held her in his arms and stroked her hair comfortingly, whispering softly that he was there for her.

After a few minutes her body stilled and she turned her head to the side so that her voice was no longer muffled by Rock's chest. "Then they fuckin' tried to rape me; they had me pinned and he came closer and closer – I could feel his disgusting breath on my bare chest Rock."

She broke into tears once again, and Rock continued holding her close while attempting to keep his anger under control – if he ever found those men- His thoughts were interrupted when Revy next spoke. "And then I fuckin' killed him. He was about to put it in me when I stabbed him."

She lowered her head and closed her eyes. "I killed all of them; and then I killed _him_; the fuckin' asshole who had sent them there to 'teach me a lesson about respect'."

Rock stroked her lavender hair gently before placing a gentle kiss on her head. "I'll never let another person hurt you again Revy."

She smiled at the conviction in his voice. "You can't promise that."

A silence followed. "No, I suppose I can't – but I can promise that I will protect you with my life."

After a few moments the two got to their feet and began clearing the table and washing the dishes. When everything had been sorted the couple walked up to their room where Rock made to go and get his clothes ready for the next day.

He froze when Revy took his hand, and his eyes widened when she pulled him in the direction of the bathroom. A silent question was asked in Rock's eyes, and an answer was given in Revy's, the understanding that nothing needed to be said clear to the both of them.

He allowed himself to be led into the bathroom by the silent woman, and with a heavy blush on her cheeks she began to undress after turning the shower on.

Rock could only watch in awe as more and more of her smooth skin was revealed to him. When she was fully undressed she lowered her eyes and covered her breasts with one hand and reached down to conceal her bare crotch.

Rock would've liked to know what to do in this situation, but because he had never done anything like this before he was completely and utterly clueless.

Trusting his instincts, and hoping that Revy didn't think him too inexperienced, he too began to undress and gave an internal sigh of alleviation when he saw Revy 's shoulders sag in relief, seeing that he too was showing all of himself to her.

A moment later Rock was feeling exactly like Revy had seconds before; exposed and vulnerable. By simply giving him a warm smile however, he felt his worries ease slightly and he followed the tattooed woman into the shower, lifting his head into the warm spray and smiling happily.

Revy chuckled at his look of euphoria and he looked down with a warm smile of his own before pulling her into a gentle embrace and resting his chin on the top of her head, both of them simply enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed against one another.

After a while Rock pulled back from Revy slightly and leant down, capturing her slightly parted lips with his own.

Revy wrapped one of her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss and teasing his lips with her tongue almost as if begging for entry – which Rock gladly gave.

Both of them slowly melted into the kiss, and Rock smiled when he heard Revy moan into his mouth – relieved that he was apparently doing something right.

Air – unfortunately – became a problem and the two gently separated, resting their foreheads together with their chests heaving in great gulps of air.

Rock stepped back from the woman in front of him and just stared in awe; her body glistening in the dim light, and her hair darkened with moisture clinging to her back.

Snapping out of his reverie, Rock gathered his wits and begun to lather up some shampoo before running his hands lightly through his wife's hair and massaging her scalp – much to Revy's pleasure – and finished by washing the soap off, making sure that none of it ran into her eyes.

She was waiting for him to continue his ministrations, but sighed happily when his arms wrapped around her front and pulled her into an enjoyable embrace.

After a few minutes Rock once again pulled back and started washing her back, pausing when he reached her lower back. He looked up at her for permission and she nodded; a cute blush on her cheeks.

He turned his attention back to his washing and slowly ran his hands across the smooth skin, not missing the stifled moan that escaped Revy's lips.

He gently massaged the two globes, and grinned when Revy didn't even bother containing the breathy sigh that his ministrations caused. Not wanting to obsess, he finished washing and then moved down to do her legs.

Once he had finished washing away the soap she turned around, and for the second time that night Rock caught himself staring and he couldn't stop the urge to reach up, cup her cheek and brush his lips against hers. "You're beautiful." He whispered, and her face brightened.

A moment later she pressed her lips to his in a short caress before resting her head against his chest and smiling. "Thank you; nobody has ever told me that before."

He glanced down at her in shock, but then smiled. "Well you're not going to hear me stop saying that anytime soon."

She smiled up at him warmly; a look of deep appreciation in her eyes, and Rock gave her a soft hug before returning to her body. He slowly ran his hands across her toned shoulders, before tentatively running both his hands downwards and over her breasts, making a mental note of her gasp as he ran his fingertips across the two, hard nipples.

Lingering only long enough to raise her heartbeat slightly, he moved downwards and across her flat stomach, before coming to the place which he had – in all the years of his life – had never once seen first-hand.

He looked at the delicate folds in wonder, before gently running a finger down the exposed pink flesh, pausing when he felt the woman above shudder at his touch.

He gently parted the outer petals of the woman in front of him and rubbed his fingers over the dark rose flesh; eliciting pleasure-filled moans from the purple-haired woman above him, her head thrown back in ecstasy.

Slowly he withdrew from the wonder in front of him, and washed the soap suds of Revy's body after which she snuggled into his chest, her arms resting gently on his back. "Thank you."

He muttered something unintelligible, and Revy pulled back, a blush on her face as she returned the favour, slowly moving down his body and – much as Rock had done – paused when she reached his crotch, his manhood clearly showing its excitement.

As gentle as Rock had been with her, she gently ran her hand along the hard shaft before washing the suds from his body.

After holding one another for a few minutes longer, they stepped from the shower and slowly dried each other off before stepping back into the bedroom, the anticipation of what was to come clear on both of their faces.

Revy carefully lay down on the bed, her still-damp hair spread around her head in a fan and her eyes beckoning to Rock.

He softly lay down on top of her, and reached down to stroke her cheek with his thumb before lowering his lips to hers and gradually deepening the kiss until both of them were panting for breath.

He gently nibbled on Revy's ear, eliciting a pleasure-filled moan, and finding that he himself was moaning when she arched her back; pushing her breasts firmly to his chest.

He slowly moved down her body, making sure to give each part of her equal attention. He gently bit her neck before trailing a line of kisses down to her chest and capturing one of her hardened nipples in his mouth.

Her back immediately arched in pleasure, and a loud moan forced its way from her parted lips. Feeling her reaction, he gently cupped her other breast in his hand and gently squeezed it – smiling when he heard her throaty gasp.

Gently he trailed his other hand downwards until it reached her core. Carefully he brushed a finger across the delicate folds, and was rewarded by a shocked gasp from his lover.

He moved his head upwards again, and pulled his wife into a heated kiss – smiling when, as he continued stoking her core, she moaned into his mouth.

He was just about to move back down again when Revy pulled his short, black hair softly. At his questioning look she cupped his cheek and smiled. "I'm ready."

It took a moment for her passion-filled words to comprehend, but when they did his eyes widened.

He looked at her body beneath him and gulped; he didn't know what to do.

Seeing his hesitation Revy frowned, and Rock managed to choke out his embarrassing confession. "I don't know what to do."

At this Revy's own eyes widened in surprise. "You've never done this before?!" He shook his head and waited for the laughter, but when it came he did not expect to be held in a hug, and he most certainly did not expect the laughter to be full of happiness.

What really floored the young man were the next words out of the purple-haired woman's mouth, sounding almost relieved. "I'm so glad."

"Wha – why--" he cut himself off as he realized the implications of her statement, and his eyes widened. "Unless you've never…" His voice trailed off at her happy nod and his jaw dropped a couple of inches. "Bu- I- I thought that you would've!"

She shook her head and laughed merrily. "I thought the same with you; I was so fuckin' nervous before in the shower because I'd never done anything like that before."

He let out a relieved sigh which was followed by a chuckle. "Looks like we're both as clueless as each other."

She nodded with a smile on her face but soon turned serious. "I never wanted to do it with anybody until I met you." She gave him a timid smile, and shyly opened her legs wider. "I'm glad I can share it with you."

He nodded in agreement, but froze when something occurred to him. "But you could get pregnant, couldn't you?" She shook her head confidently and he let the matter drop before moving on to the one that worried him the most. "But it'll hurt--"

She silenced him by placing one of her fingers to his lips and smiling. "I don't care if it hurts a little, just so long as I can be with you."

If hearts could melt, Rock was sure that his would've liquidized in a second flat, and her words rewarded her with a passionate kiss.

Slowly she sunk into the kiss, and moaned when Rock gently tweaked her hard nipple with his thumb and forefinger.

Gently he kneaded her soft breasts, and the heat radiating from between her legs and her constant moans both excited and encouraged him.

As he nibbled at her ear, his hand slowly trailed down to her heat, and very slowly and gently Rock pushed a finger in-between her folds, eliciting the loudest moan yet as she curved her body upwards, forcing herself closer to his hand.

Slowly he began pumping his finger out of her now slick tunnel, and soon pushed another finger in, increasing both her moans of pleasure and his excitement.

She couldn't take it anymore, and pulled Rock's face to hers in a heated kiss. "Now Rock, I want you inside me."

He nodded gently and gave his sweating wife a chaste kiss on her cheek before sitting back on his haunches and placing the tip of his manhood at her entrance.

He gave her one last, questioning look and, receiving a small nod in return, began to push inside her.

The feeling was like nothing he had ever experienced, the smooth, hot walls surrounding him felt incredible, and with a small give, the head of his shaft had entered the moaning body of the woman beneath him.

He looked down at her face in worry, and leant down to kiss her when he saw the look of discomfort on her features.

"Are you okay Revy?" She nodded once and he frowned – pushing back his feelings of immense pleasure and instead focusing on the woman beneath him. "It's up to you how we do this Revy."

She nodded thankfully and thought for a second before coming to a decision. She turned her head upwards and looked into his eyes. "Do it fast, but don't move after."

He nodded his head in understanding and leant back once again. Revy took a deep breath and nodded to the waiting man who, with a single thrust, pushed himself fully inside her.

A sharp gasp burst from Revy, and Rock immediately looked down at her face, contorted slightly in pain and her eyes watering.

He'd seen Revy in pain before; shot through the shoulder by the Lovelace family maid; a sword put through her leg by Ginji; but he'd never felt as guilty as he did now: while she was experiencing pain, he was enjoying immense pleasure.

Knowing that she wouldn't want pity, he leant down and affectionately bumped his forehead with hers, giving her a caring smile when she opened her chocolate brown orbs. "You okay?"

She raised an eyebrow as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You just stuck a thick, long rod inside a small hole that's never been used before, how do you think I'm doing?"

He grinned, but promptly groaned when she squeezed her muscles experimentally. "Well I'm sure you'll manage, but I won't if you keep doing that."

"Mm." She wiggled around slightly as if testing the waters, and gave him a small nod a moment later. "Move slowly."

Her hazel eyes gazed at him pleadingly and he nodded before slowly moving his hips.

The friction between them was incredible, and the two quickly began panting in exertion; their bodies finding a rhythm which made both of them moan in pleasure and their bodies seem to become one.

Revy began to breath harder, and forcefully pressed her lips against Rock's while moaning passionately.

If Rock wasn't ready to blow before he certainly was now, and he pulled back from the lip-lock to gasp heavily in her ear, "I'm close Revy."

She nodded against the crook of his neck, and moaned when he pushed harder into her; quickening his pace. In between her gasps she managed to force out her reply. "It's okay, I'm close too."

He nodded almost deliriously, but forced himself to hold on until she reached her release. Not able to hold on any longer, he reached down with his hand and took some advice that he had been given a long time ago from a fellow assassin.

Clumsily he rubbed above where they were joined, and after a few seconds was rewarded by both her release, and his.

He felt her walls surrounding him tighten and ripple, and with a deep grunt coupled with a small scream from his wife, he let himself go.

His body stiffened, and after what felt like an eternity all the strength left his body – his mind only just lucid enough to fall to the side rather than on top of the woman below him, her body shiny with sweat and her chest heaving.

After the two had caught their breath, Rock spooned himself to her back and let out a loving chuckle. "I didn't think I'd last long enough for you to finish with me."

She wriggled in his embrace until she was comfortable, and when it came her voice clearly carried the smile on her face. "I would've fuckin' _made_ you finish me off."

"Mmm." He placed his chin on the top of her head and let out a sigh. "Thank you."

Slowly she turned around in his embrace, and regarded him with a raised eyebrow when his face came into view. "Why?"

He closed his eyes and pulled her into his chest before answering. "For sharing that with me."

She mumbled, embarrassed. "You're my husband."

"But you didn't have to do that." She didn't have an answer for that, but instead pulled the sheets over them, a slight pout on her face. Finding it incredibly amusing, and cute for that matter, Rock gave her a squeeze and whispered. "Goodnight beautiful."

After five minutes of giving him the silent treatment, and Rock's waiting for an answer hanging in the air, she let out a resigned sigh, but her cheerful tone made her true feelings clear. "Goodnight Rock."


	7. You And What Army?

Poof! Boom! The two sounds echoed out after one another, and the black-haired man who was lying in bed at the time rolled lazily over and snuggled his head into the neck of his female companion, breathing in her scent happily.

_Nothing like anti-personnel mines in the morning._ It took a couple of seconds for the thought to fully register in Rock's sleep-addled mind, but when it did he was not – as one would expect – panicked, but rather he perhaps _the_ most pissed off man in the entire world.

He gently wriggled out of bed so as not to wake his sleeping wife, and proceeded to grumble angrily as he walked down to the armoury amid the distant explosions.

"Fucking cocksuckers; I had two more hours of snuggling before I needed to wake up." He looked at his watch and blanched when he ascertained the time.

The numbers _0310_ glared up at him from the illuminated watch face, and the assassin's surprised look quickly morphed into an expression that – if looks could kill – would massacre the entire British army six times over.

He was pissed before, but now he was _really _pissed, and a really pissed Rock wasn't good for anybody in a one hundred kilometre radius…except maybe the sleeping purple-haired beauty still asleep in the bed upstairs.

He could've had _five_ more hours of sleep, and _two_ entire hours of snuggling _on top _of that, and that kind of disturbance called for some very heavy artillery.

The Barret M82 50 Cal was quickly slung over his shoulder, quickly joined by a rucksack filled with ammo for the various weapons stashed in the bedroom upstairs along with two SMAWs for good measure.

Still grumbling irritatedly he made his way back to his and Revy's bedroom, pausing only to sneak a peek at the security camera monitors.

Seeing the massive convoy of tanks, armoured vehicles and soldiers heading down the driveway only buoyed his spirits slightly; ninety percent of them would be dead in a few seconds.

He continued walking up the stairs and allowed himself a small grin of satisfaction when the ground rumbled ominously, and the sound of a deep explosion thundered into his ears.

"Serves you fuckers right. Tch, honestly: waking a man in the fucking morning with an all-out frontal assault." He kicked open the door to the bedroom and stormed inside.

A noise interrupted his loading of the sniper rifle, and he turned to look at the woman lying on the bed. She sat up, clutching the sheets to her naked body and rubbing her eyes.

After waking herself up somewhat, she turned to the crouching man who was busily preparing the weapons cached under the bed. "Rock, wha-"

It was then that she heard the muffled explosions of the mines, and her eyes shot wide open in panic. "They're here?! Now?!"

She looked at the clock and her eyes darkened and her voice lowered dangerously. "At this fucking hour in the morning?"

Rock turned to her, his eyes and tone mirroring her own. "Tell me about it."

While she dressed herself, Rock pulled open the windows to the balcony, and proceeded to prop the monstrous looking weapon on the railing before peering through the scope on top of the massive rifle.

Immediately the landscape was bathed in a bright green, and it was like it was daytime – or at least it was for Rock.

Popping off a few stragglers from the wreckage of the massive convoy lifted his mood, but it was when he caught something out of the corner of his eye that he really began to comprehend the full gravity of his current situation.

He swung the gun around, and his eyes widened at what he saw. Fifty tanks faced him, their barrels pointing threateningly at the house that both Revy and him were currently inhabiting.

Behind the tanks stood what must have been three thousand troops, and behind them hovered ten attack helicopters.

Rock had been in the shit before, in fact he had been in extremely deep shit, but this kind of shit he had never seen, been involved in, nor ever heard of…ever.

Apparently –seeing that Rock had grasped the full scope of the shit- the leader wanted to talk, and it didn't surprise him when he heard the feminine voice of Balalaika echo out over the landscape. "Rokuro Okajima, surrender now; we have the entire property surrounded."

Revy came up behind the black-haired man, who stepped aside and offered her a pair of night-vision binoculars which – when she had seen what was in front of them – promptly clattered to the ground.

Swinging around to face the ex-Nessus assassin, her face was panicked, and boarder-line unhinged. "We're going to die!"

He chuckled at her pessimistic attitude; he'd been shocked, definitely: he hadn't expected such a huge-scale assault.

He smiled at an old saying: "Plan for the worst, hope for the best." Well apparently his hope had failed, but he had followed the first part of the plan to a T.

He went inside and picked up the phone from the bedside table, dialling a number, and returning to the balcony a moment later.

When he spoke, his voice rang out clearly across the gap separating the two forces. "Ms Balalaika, I didn't expect you to find us so fast: it's only been a week."

Her guarded voice sounded a moment later. "I have my sources."

Rock nodded appreciatively. "I understand that." He gave a sigh before continuing, "I really hoped for a peaceful resolution to this, but when you come to our property, wake us up at three in the morning, and then face us off with a small army I don't think that is either possible or reasonable."

He picked up the binoculars from the ground and peered through the lenses, smiling happily when he saw the positioning of the small armada.

He picked up a laptop resting beside the bed, and brought it out onto the porch, sitting on one of the deck chairs and waiting for his opponent's reply before acting.

When it came, it was nothing short of inspiring. "Rock! You killed my men, you killed Chang's men, you murdered the highest officials in our organizations, only sparing us leaders; you are an enemy to both Hotel Moscow and the Triad."

Her voice took on a commanding tone, one that had all of the troops shivering in anticipation. "But I'm not going to kill you straight away: that would make me as bad as you. No- I'm going to capture you, and then I'm going to find out why you did such a thing, and _then_ I'll kill you."

Revy looked in absolute amazement as she watched her husband sit back in the chair, and calmly address the woman across the open ground as if there was no danger or hostility whatsoever. "Ms Balalaika, would you believe me if I said that I didn't kill either yours or Chang's commanders?"

Her answer was immediate. "No." He sighed, and was about to say something when the Russian lady spoke once again. "And now you've declared war on us: you killed all my men that were in that convoy."

Rock raised an eyebrow and put a question to her. "And was I not supposed to do that Ms Balalaika? Was I supposed to let a small army surround both me and my wife, not knowing their intentions, and just sit here and do nothing? Had you come in unarmed vehicles then I would've let you pass, and we could've talked, but instead _you_ declared war on _me_ and by extension my wife."

He glared across the field as if he could see the scarred Russian. "I simply cannot allow that. Whether you think I killed your men or not is irrelevant: I will not allow any harm to come to Revy and that's final, and when you roll on up with half of the Russian army what am I supposed to assume? That you've come over for a cup of tea and a chat? I don't think so."

A deafening silence rocketed across the battlefield, and Rock shook his head in disappointment. "I thought you would've at least let me explain my side of the story, but I can see now that that just isn't going to happen. I know I'm innocent, Revy knows I'm innocent, and you _think_ I'm guilty – but you won't back down now that I've killed your soldiers."

He opened a window on the laptop, and Revy gasped at the program that opened.

Rock looked into the gloom and could just make out the silhouettes of the army ahead.

He had one thing to say before starting. "Just remember Balalaika: you declared war on me, not the other way around."

And with that, Rock's finger came down on the enter button on the keyboard. Instantly the night lit up as if the sun had instantaneously risen, but the light was not that of the daytime.

A second later the shockwave reached the house, and Rock and Revy moved. They leapt across the balcony and immediately raced across the open ground to the awaiting army, the majority of which were engulfed in flames from the massive napalm tanks that Rock had planted earlier that week.

They met the first wave of soldiers half-way across the flickering battleground, and the two killers, the two lovers, moved as one.

Revy ducked down and began firing from a kneeling position, her pistols blazing in the darkness as she rapidly took down the men whose guns were swinging in her husband's direction.

Running out of ammo, she released the magazine from her gun and found a firm hand already slamming a new clip into place; Rock's other hand already coming around to deflect the bullet that was flying towards Revy's head.

As soon as she heard the resounding click of the new bullets snapping into place she began firing once again, her back to her husband's as he let loose with a devastating burst of fire from his FAMAS assault rifle; cutting down at least fifty of the Russian soldiers in one go, each of the bullets opening a gaping, bloody hole in the commandos' throats.

Finally running out of ammo, Rock switched to his blades; two Kukri combat knives, their curved, silver blades reflecting the fires of what used to be Balalaika's squad making it seem somewhat ethereal, and far more brutal.

In the hands of the highly trained assassin, brutal was far too simple of a word. Savage, unrelenting, vicious, merciless, ruthless; all of the words described the look of the man who was running into the swarms of soldiers with his wife at his back.

Throats were slit open, bullets impacted against foreheads – splattering the soldiers behind with their fallen comrades' brains.

Seeing an opening in the advancing troop's ranks, Rock caught the sprinting Revy and boosted her up into the air.

Flying in a lethal curve, she pulled her two pistols around and began firing; each shot taking a life and causing a new fountain of crimson to erupt in the night.

The gruesome sounds of skulls cracking and the hiss of throats being slit echoed throughout the still night.

It was when the lethal pair reached the commandos that the competition finally heated up, and both Revy and Rock jumped into the fight with matching grins and murderous eyes.

When they landed, Rock immediately swung around with his two blades, slicing the legs of five of the surrounding men in one move before quickly moving up a level and decapitating them.

Revy, however, chose a vastly different tactic and went after each soldier individually.

The first soldier put up a hard fight, but found herself with the top of her skull missing a second later when she opened up the underside of her chin for a moment too long.

The second soldier was completely unprepared for the speed at which Revy attacked and promptly found himself with all four of his limbs missing and a second later a bullet entering his head, splattering the man behind him with brain matter.

The crack commando unit was in trouble, and although generally they were considered the best in Russia, perhaps even in the world, they were absolute child's play when it came to Rock and Revy.

When the last body of the squad fell, Revy and Rock looked up to face their next opponent – and raised their eyebrows in surprise.

Shenhua – the lady that Revy had so nicely dubbed the "Yes it is" lady" on their mission to rescue Rock earlier in the year – stood before them in her skimpy outfit with her two kukri knives held in her hands.

Apparently Mr Chang had felt the need to have some role in the assault. The knife swung through the air; tethered to a rope held in the Taiwanese assassin's hand, and flew towards Rock's face only to be stopped mere millimetres before it impaled his skull.

A metallic clang rang out in the night, and the knife dropped uselessly to the ground to reveal Rock sunken into a fighting stance and the flat of his knife by his face.

The woman's eyes widened at the speed at which he had reacted. "You fast, I not know you that fast!"

Rock grinned manically, but the smile soon dropped from his face when a blade sped towards his wife a moment later.

He grabbed the purple-haired woman around the waist and pulled her behind him, the speeding blade only just missing her vital point.

The lady noticed Rock's change in attitude almost immediately and tilted her head enquiringly to the side. "Why you so angry?"

He began walking slowly towards her, his footsteps crunching grimly through the silence and his eyes dangerously glowering at the colourfully dressed woman. "Nobody tries to hurt Revy and lives."

"Bu-" Rock's blade flying towards her face cut her off mid-sentence, and she quickly ducked under its lethal arch.

She twisted around and was just about to slice down on Rock's exposed neck but a millisecond later he wasn't there.

Her eyes widened in shock, how could somebody move so fast. She found out a second later when a large gash opened up on her forearm.

She looked up to see Rock flitting back to where Revy was standing before once again returning to a defensive stance. She looked down at the wound in amazement: she hadn't been hurt like this since she was ten years old.

She looked up to where Rock was whispering urgently to Revy and felt anger surge up inside of her. "Nobody hurt me and live!" She screamed furiously.

Rock raised his eyebrow; the irony of her statement was not lost on him.

He watched as she tore across the ground towards them, and when mere meters separated them, he gave Revy a nod.

Immediately Rock jumped to the left and Revy to the right, giving the pair a moment of freedom which they spent preparing for the next step in Rock's hastily prepared plan.

The angered Taiwanese assassin screamed in anger, and ran in a curve to once again face the couple who were standing in front of one of the burning vehicles; their silhouettes rippling around the edges with the heat that was blasting from the flames.

Her eyes insane, and her throat growing hoarse with screaming, the sword bending woman raced towards the figures – but it was too late.

Rock had counted on her mental instability, and by the time Shenhua realized that the man standing beside Revy, or rather was being held up by Revy, had only half a head, and one of the purple-haired woman's guns was missing, she could already feel the cold barrel pressed against the back of her skull, and the slight creaking of the trigger as it was pulled.

One shot rang out, and the corpse of Chang's assassin slumped to the ground, the majority of her face missing and her blades sticking into the ground beside her.

When Revy joined Rock a moment later, they were faced with what was – apparently – one of the last surviving Russian squads.

The ferocious speed at which the pair moved, and the bloodied and ruined bodies they left behind meant that neither of them needed to obliterate every one of the enemy soldiers; the majority of them ran for the hills in horror of the terrifying acts they had witnessed that night.

When they were no longer being fired upon, Rock and Revy lowered their weapons and began walking towards the woman who was standing by one of the flaming vehicles; a very rare look of fear on her face and the cigar hanging from her mouth.

Her fear wasn't unusual under the circumstances. The two killers approached her; their clothing stained with blood; the flames' light flickering across their hardened features; the crimson fluid running down the two silver blades; and cruel smiles on their faces; their eyes dark and unreadable.

When they finally came within a few meters of the shaking woman, they stopped and took a moment to survey the area around them.

Balalaika's eyes followed theirs across the battleground, and they widened when she fully comprehended the mass of destruction and death that faced her.

Bodies lay decapitated, disembowelled and bleeding on the ground; screams came from the injured and burnt; the flaming remains of tanks were ablaze with wild fire; and the smell of burnt flesh hung in the air.

Balalaika's terrified eyes met Rock's cold, ash-grey orbs. "You did all of this."

He pulled a small black box from his pocket and looked directly into her eyes, almost as if he could see her soul, "You killed all your men."

With a small movement of his thumb, a small click sounded above the crackling flames, and barely a second later the ground rumbled deeply, and in the distance a wall of flames reached skywards; disintegrating the men who had run from the battleground.

Rock faced the explosion with a manic smile, while Revy looked at him with an incredulous expression. "How much explosive did you use?!"

He grinned sheepishly. "Well…I did use the truck for a reason."

"Bu-" She trailed off and narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her. "You made six trips with the truck…"

His childish grin confirmed her suspicions and she immediately cracked him over the head with the butt of her pistol before sticking her face in his and yelling angrily. "You fucking dipshit Rock! That was over a ton of C1!"

At his murmur that mentioned something more in the realms of _three_ tons, she cracked him over the head again. "THREE FUCKING TONS ROCK?!"

After a few more moments of arguing, interspersed with the cracking sounds of Revy's gun connecting with Rock's skull, the pair finally remembered that Balalaika _was_ in front of them, and that she _was_ planning on killing them sooner or later.

Revy turned to the woman, who froze in the middle of reaching for a nearby gun from one of her dead comrades.

A grin spread across Revy's face, and she wiggled her finger side to side, much as a mother would to reprimand a small child. "Now, now Sis, don't be a naughty girl; I feel much the same as my husband."

She leaned forward and tapped the tip of her gun to the terrorized Russian's forehead. "I don't like people trying to kill Rock, and I really don't like people waking me up at three in the fuckin' morning while I'm snuggling."

She used her thumb and pulled back the hammer of the gun. "My husband isn't Assassin X anymore, he's Rock, and he wouldn't fuckin' kill any of your _or_ Chang's people; he has no reason to."

Her lips twisted into a scowl, and Balalaika shrunk back in alarm. "You _made_ Rock and me kill all these men, and so I see no fuckin' need to keep you alive anymore."

The blonde-haired Russian watched in horror as Revy's finger pulled on the trigger, and the hammer rushed forward until it disappeared into the chamber.

_Click._

The frightened Russian woman flinched at the sound, but frowned when she realized that she wasn't dead.

She raised her eyes to look at the two killers in front of her and found Revy casually twirling her pistol around her index finger, and Rock standing with his back to the pair while enjoying the view of the house burning to the ground; the flames having spread across the dry lawn and igniting it a few seconds earlier.

Turning her attention to her prospective killer, she asked why she hadn't been killed. Revy's answer was calm and her voice was measured. "Rock wouldn't want me to kill you."

With a flourish, she holstered her weapon, gave the shocked woman one last glance, and walked over to Rock who wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began walking towards the untouched garage.

Without a backwards glance, the pair jumped in one of the cars, belted themselves in, and leisurely drove down the driveway.

Rock glanced in the rear-view mirror at the Russian woman who was lying among the wreckage and corpses of her army before peering down at his clothing and sighing in annoyance.

His pyjama pants were charred and holey, his singlet was covered in bloodstains and rips, and his shoes were covered in a patchwork of brown and crimson.

He looked over at his wife and couldn't help but chuckle at her sour expression.

Hearing his quiet titter she finally let loose with her anger, venting it before she was tempted to hurt the man beside her. "THOSE FUCKING IDIOTS!"

Rock began listening to a song in his head, appropriately called 'Beds Are Burning' – which was probably what was happening back in Gary's holiday home -while tuning out his wife's ranting, interjecting occasionally with a nod or a grunt of agreement.

After about twenty minutes, she finally quietened down, and leant her head against Rock's shoulder.

Seeing that she had calmed somewhat, he kept one hand on the wheel while drawing his hand through her silken hair with the other, eliciting a pleasure filled sigh from the woman who – just an hour before – had been murdering men with a sadistic gleam in her eye. "I just want to be left the fuck alone Rock; I want to live quietly with you for a while."

He sunk into thought and unconsciously continued stroking her hair, his eyes dark. "Me too Revy, me too.


	8. Blast From the Past

Revy looked at the house in front of them with no small amount of confusion. "Rock, why are we here?"

Rock looked up at the house with a look of dread, and peered cautiously at his watch. "Revy, you should lower your head."

"Huh?" The answer arrived a second later when –with no prior warning- the window of the house in front of them shattered into tiny shards of glass and a man landed on the pavement, screaming madly and scrambling to get to his feet before sprinting away from the innocent looking brick building as fast as he could.

Revy's eyes boggled at both the spectacle and Rock's apparent lack of surprise at the occurrence save for a depressed sigh.

He placed a hand to his forehead and groaned. "I have a feeling that I'm going to find it hard _not_ to kill him by the time we leave."

Without any further explanation, he made his way up the concrete steps and opened the door for Revy before following her inside.

Once again, it looked unexceptional in virtually every aspect; the stained wood banisters, the glass cupboards containing various artefacts, and…cameras.

Rock watched two of the cameras swivel in his direction, and promptly dealt to them with a double shot from his guns.

He glared up the stairs and yelled loudly. "Yakov, I am coming up there right now, so whatever you did to that poor bastard would you _please_ clean up?"

Not waiting for a reply Rock set off up the stairs, pulling the reluctant Revy after him. "Why did that man jump out of the window?!"

Rock grumbled irritatedly. "Oh you'll see soon enough." They came to the top of the stairs and Rock immediately headed towards a dark, mahogany door before –rudely- kicking it open and stepping inside with a wary look on his face.

He looked around the empty room carefully, the breeze coming in through the broken window causing his coat to billow around his feet.

Something wasn't right though, and with a sigh Rock lifted his gun to the ceiling and fired a shot at the piece of wood that _wasn't_ supposed to be breathing.

A metallic clang tinkled as the latch in the roof was blown away, and Rock pulled Revy to the right just as a small, black and white mass dropped from the ceiling and met the floor with a resounding thwump.

Not even bothering to turn around, Rock walked over to the desk in the corner of the room and poured both him and Revy a whiskey, handing the latter her glass a moment later while watching the elderly man struggle to his feet after the rather painful fall.

When the old man finally brushed himself off and was standing somewhat steadily, he reached into his pocket to retrieve his glasses.

When he put them on and saw just who was stood in front of him he froze, and his eyes widened. "You!" He pointed a finger at Rock accusingly and then turned on Revy, pointing his finger at her shocked and confused face. "And yo-"

He frowned for a moment and then shook his head, returning the accusatory finger to its original position. "No, just you - what are you doing here?!"

"I need information."

"I don't care whether you need information of just a fucking cup of tea, get out!" He ran over to the window and looked frantically up and down the street as if expecting an attack any second.

After seeing that there was no immediate danger he spun on his heel to glare angrily at the bemused looking assassin. "The Russian Mafia, Hotel Moscow _and_ the Hong Kong Triad are all after your-" He paused and looked at Revy, and his eyes widened, "_and_ her heads, and you come here?!"

He moved to push Rock out the door, but paused when he saw the huge wad of money held in his hand.

Revy's eyed widened as well, and she glared at Rock. "Where did you get that money?!"

"From one of my many bank accounts."

Her glare became darker and more dangerous. "And why haven't you used your money before, like when the torpedo beat needed fixed?"

He shrunk back slightly and held his hands up defensively. "Well you guys didn't know who I was then, so I could hardly pull out a hundred grand out and _not_ rouse any suspicion now, could I?"

Grumbling dejectedly, she replied that no – he probably couldn't have. Nodding his head, Rock turned back to the gentleman and threw him the wad of money.

The white-haired man caught it deftly in-between his forefinger and thumb, and said something that Rock was sure would lead to an argument. "How do I know it's real?"

In answer, Rock threw him a banking receipt and crossed his arms.

His wrinkled face looked up at Rock, and a second later he raised an eyebrow before sighing in understanding. "Ah, I see. So the bank told you that it was real, but how do you know that that is the truth? Is it just a belief on your part? Do you actually _know_ that the bank was telling the truth?"

All throughout the man's speech, Rock's jaw clenched tighter and tighter and at the last word he snapped; deciding that it was probably better to do it sooner rather than later – if he did it later he'd be liable to kill the old fart.

The preaching man found himself on the wrong end of Rock's gun a moment later, and surprised Revy by smiling at Rock's next words. "I'll kill you if you don't give me the information I need."

The old man raised a finger to make his next point. "Ah, but how do you know that you haven't already killed me?"

Rock's grip tightened on the trigger, but the old man was not yet done. "They say that before you die your life flashes before your eyes, this now could be your life flashing before you."

With an annoying grin which had Rock's teeth virtually cracking in frustration he finished his argument. "This could already have been and gone."

"WELL WOULD YOU RATHER I HAD'VE KILLED YOU OR NOT?"

"Well if this is just your memory then I'm a figment of your imagination – technically I can't actually care about anyth-"

"SHUT UP!" The furious black-haired man holstered his gun before he _actually _pulled the trigger, and went over to the bottle of whiskey before proceeding to drain the entire bottle – much to the wide eyes of both Revy and Yakov.

When he finished, he slammed the empty bottle on the counter and glared at the philosophical man that was liable to drive him insane. "Now that'll get me slightly tipsy, enough to not care about the consequences of me killing you so you'd better give me information before I snap your impertinent neck."

Seeing the crazed look in Rock's eyes, the man suddenly became a lot more cooperative, and strode over to his filing cabinet hurriedly. "Right – who did you want to know about?"

"Where McGlashan is hiding."

Yakov's previously animated fingers froze in their tracks, and his head slowly turned to face the ex-Nessus assassin. "Am I right in assuming that you mean _that_ McGlashan?"

At his nod, the elderly man regarded Rock in a completely new light – one of a man who was seriously considering that his visitor had recently escaped a high security mental institution. "You want to get _him?!_"

"Yes, now just tell me where the fuck he is and I'll be on my way."

"I can't just tell you where he is!"

Rock folded his arms and tapped his pistol threateningly on the table. "Yes you can."

"He'll kill me!"

"No he won't, because he'll be dead."

A silence engulfed the room, and Revy looked at the two men in confusion. "What the hell is going on here?!"

Shostakovitch pointed at Rock with his wrinkled, bony finger. "Your boyfriend wants to kill the ex-head of Nessus!"

"He's my husba- WHAT?!"

Rock lowered his head and sighed in exasperation. "You just _had _to tell her, didn't you?"

The angered, purple-haired woman immediately turned on the gun-wielding man, a rabid look on her face. "Tell me?! I SHOULD FUCKING KNOW YOU DIPSHIT ROCK; I'M YOUR WIFE!"

"You're his wife?!"

Both of the killers turned to face him with a look that clearly showed their questioning of his intelligence, before returning to the quarrel they were having. "I was going to tell you, but I wanted to get all the information I could before telling you about it."

Her voice, now dangerously low, questioned him. "And when were you planning on telling me?"

"When we got to Lobnya. "

Her anger fell away almost instantly. "Oh." They'd talked about where they'd go next, and Rock had assured her that they would reach Lobnya by nightfall – a few hours wait before telling her about his plan could hardly be classified as 'holding out' on her.

Turning back to the still-astounded man at their union, Revy glared at him and pulled her gun from a holster hidden in her heavy, fur-lined coat, pulled back the slide and began tapping the barrel thoughtfully against the glass table. "So, when are you going to tell us where this…McGlashan is hiding?"

The white-haired information-broker regarded the pair suspiciously. "He's not coming after me?"

Rock nodded in the affirmative. "And he's not going to find out that I told you?" Another nod. "And he's not going to come after my fami-"

"YOU DON'T HAVE A FUCKING FAMILY, SO SHUT UP AND TELL US WHERE THE FUCK MCGLASHAN IS!" Rock had finally lost his rag, and everyone in the room could tell: the heavy breathing; the maddened, near insane eyes; the two guns pointed at the old man's head; and most notably the two fingers that were squeezing firmly on the triggers.

Ten minutes later, the married couple exited the building – thankfully out the front door – and began walking down the street.

Rock was still smouldering at the parting comment of "If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there," and Revy was trying to cool him off.

"Well at least you got more information than _just_ where he is." Judging by the look on Rock's face, it was hardly a consolation and a moment later he pick-pocketed a passer-by before flicking up the top of his newly acquired phone.

As he began violently punching in numbers, Revy gave him an odd look. "What the fuck are you doing?"

He put the phone to his ear before answering. "I'm ordering a hit on that crazy son of a bitch; he needs to die."

He found the phone snatched from his ear a moment later, and watched as it sailed in a lazy curve before entering…the river.

He turned to her with a pissed off look on his face, and found himself faced with an equally annoyed expression. "WHAT THE FUCK ROCK?!"

He pointed back the way they had just came and stuck his face closer to hers before screaming angrily back, "I HAD TO PUT UP WITH THAT SHIT FOR TWO MONTHS WHEN I WAS IN BASIC TRAINING!"

"WELL I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ROCK, HE'S HUMAN AND HAD HIS FAULTS JUST LIKE EVEYRBODY ELSE!"

Rock's face reddened in anger and he brought his face within a few mere millimetres of his wife's, his voice dangerously low. "You don't have any idea how I feel right now."

"Well then sho-" She was abruptly cut off my Rock's lips mashing forcefully against her own.

After a few moments Rock pulled back from the steamy kiss and pushed her against the wall of a nearby alleyway, his chest heaving and his face covered by a blush. "God you're hot when you're angry."

Her eyes widened in surprise, but soon closed when he brought his lips back to hers in a searing kiss.

She wondered what he was doing when he lifted her up slightly and his hands went southwards, but had a fair idea of _exactly_ what was happening when she felt her panties pulled aside. "Ro-" and it was then that Rock let her drop.

A surprised gasp tore through Revy's lips as she felt him enter her, and she couldn't help but moan in excitement when he nibbled at her neck. "Rock, somebody might see…"

He grinned at her half-hearted complaint, and pushed back into her – her next words being replaced by a pleasure-filled groan. The pair moved faster, and attempted to suppress their moans in case a passer-by heard.

With a muted scream from Revy, and a long, drawn out groan from Rock the pair collapsed into a heap on the dark ground. Both panting for breath, Revy was the first to speak. "Rock…wow."

He chuckled and nuzzled into her fur coat, breathing in her scent. "Mmm, our first real quarrel, and our first case of make-up-sex."

She playfully slapped his shoulder. "You romantic."

He stood up and helped her to her feet before answering. "I'm only like this when I'm alone with you, and you're only like this when you're around me."

She pouted, but happily held onto his arm as they walked down the street.

"Copycat."

**Five hours later**

"So where is he?"

Rock looked at the mass of papers spread across the table and pointed to a map that he had beside him, his finger landing on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "Apparently he's here."

Revy looked at the small county with a raised eyebrow. "There?"

"Yes."

"The place with those fluffy white animals aye?"

This time Rock raised an eyebrow. "I believe they're called Sheep."

She raised her finger and sat back on her chair with a contented look on her face. "That's right: sheep." Her happy expression turned into a frown. "But why would the ex-leader of Nessus be _there_?"

"Because it's exactly the kind of place where he wouldn't be found. It's a tiny country, it has a small economy, it's full of country and rolling farmland, and most importantly it's innocent." He shrugged. "Not my kind of place, but each to his own."

She blew the cigarette smoke out of her nose and sighed loudly, frowning when she hear Rock cough. She cocked her head to the side. "What?"

"I don't smoke."

"Bullshit: yes you do."

He leant back in his chair and looked at the small, rolled up cigarette in her mouth before answering. "I only did it to fit in; I fucking hate the damn things." He heaved a sigh. "Fucked up my breathing for ages."

"You mean you can breathe better if you quit?"

Rock looked at the ignorant woman across the table with a sardonic look. "No Revy; your body loves it when you breath smoke into your lungs every day."

It took a second, but when it finally sunk in to Revy's brain that Rock was right her reaction was immediate and most amusing for the black-haired man sitting opposite her.

The cigarette was the first to go, flying out the window and – with a yell from below – getting caught in an innocent bystander's hair. "And it tastes _far_ better to kiss a non-smoker."

Once again Rock's statement was met by an instantaneous and highly comical reaction.

Her chair clattered to the floor and she sprinted into the bathroom, the sounds of frantic brushing and gurgling reaching Rock's ears a moment later.

He grinned at her dogged determination to rid herself of the tobacco and an amusing thought ran through his head: "_Just wait until she gets withdrawal."_

The amusement fell short however, when he realized that _he_ would be the one having to deal with her complaints and cravings. Five minutes later she exited the bathroom and sat down in the chair with a sigh. "All done."

"Just wait till tomorrow."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Are you packed for tomorrow?"

"I only have the stuff that we bought at that store after we left your friend's house in flames so yeah; I'm all packed…"

It was then that Rock noticed a smell, and Revy's voice growing weaker. It took a couple of seconds for the smell to register in his mind, but when it did he rushed to catch Revy as she fell to the ground, unconscious.

He quickly tied a handkerchief around her lips and nose before turning to the door and pulling his pistols from their holsters. Hearing footsteps hurrying up the stairs, he stood by the door and waited. He didn't have to wait long.

The door was blown off its hinges and a moment later six men ran inside wearing gas masks and carrying AK-47s; it was Russia after all.

Unfortunately for them, they realized the lack of a second person at the table too late and five of them had the back of their skulls obliterated by five perfectly placed shots, while the sixth shot hit the gun in the remaining man's hand.

Said man swung around holding a knife, but found himself promptly knocked out with the butt of Rock's pistol.

Ignoring the dead bodies and the collapsed body of the man who he'd be getting more acquainted with later, Rock gently picked up his wife and moved her into the bedroom which – he noted – wasn't filled with the noxious gas.

After placing her softly on the bed and checking her vitals, he returned to the kitchen and dragged the dazed man out to the garage of the small cottage he'd rented for the night.

When the man finally came to, he found himself spread eagled on a bench in only his boxers, and all four of his limbs secured to the legs of the table.

Rock's voice at that point would've scared most people shitless, and judging by the man's wide eyes and nervous sweat he was not one of the few people immune to Rock's techniques of intimidation. "Why hello there."

Rock stepped from the shadows and fixed the man with a predatory grin. "It's a nice evening, isn't it?"

"You were supposed to be unconscious!"

"And yet we find our roles reversed; you were the one who found yourself comatose were you not?" At the man's gurgle, Rock put a hand to his chin and spoke thoughtfully. "Judging by Revy's slight hyperactive behaviour beforehand I'd guess Nitrous Oxide?"

Not waiting for an answer from the bound man Rock continued. "Which isn't enough to knock either of us out; that would suggest you used a general anaesthetic."

He hummed for a second before – his eyes brightening – he held up a finger in triumph. "Ah! You must've used Sevoflurane! It's generally administered with Nitrous Oxide, and chances were that it would knock us out before we noticed what was going on."

"But you-"

"But me?" Rock looked down at the man with a look of mock apology. "I'm really sorry to tell you this, but I'm virtually immune to any anaesthetic on God's green Earth."

He grinned cheerily while picking up a knife from the table beside him. "Part of my training: my immunity was second to none…as is my next skill: interrogation."

When Rock raised the meat cleaver, things began to become rapidly clear to the man just how dire his situation was. Thirty minutes later and the man no longer cared – because he was dead.

The smell of burning flesh hung in the room and Rock sighed while looking at the brutalized body of the man on the table – for the little he knew, he'd sure taken his fucking time to tell it; he'd held out through the amputation of his limbs, and had only spilled the beans when Rock moved towards his boxers for the removal of his last bodily appendage.

He'd sliced it off anyways, but the man hadn't really figured it out; probably due to blood loss Rock guessed. He began cleaning up his makeshift tools of torture, but froze when he saw a shadow on the wall in front of him.

He slowly turned around, and was faced with the one thing he'd really hoped to never see; Revy's horrified face – aimed at him.

In a flash she was gone, and Rock sighed before kicking himself. _I should've finished him off faster._ He finished cleaning up and went over to see the owner of the neighbouring house who owned some pigs. No more bodies.

After washing the blood away with the garden hose, Rock picked his jacket from the back of his chair – opened the windows to air the room – and walked out the front door into the night.

He looked up at the night sky as he walked down the cobbled streets, and frowned when he saw the full moon shining red in the darkness.

Tonight smelled like blood.


	9. Dangerous Game

He'd been searching for hours. He'd asked around in bars, restaurants and even brothels for any information, but not once had he received a helpful result.

It seemed impossible – in such a place not one person seemed to have seen Revy, and what's more even Rock was finding it hard to get a trace. As a last resort he called a number on his cell phone.

He really hadn't wanted to call the number; right now he was being traced, and his location logged in one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world.

After a minute of ominous clicking that signalled the trace, a ringtone finally sounded. Elliot Meyerson was currently residing in a large, pentagonal building in the United States of America – lovingly known as the Puzzle Palace for the people that work there, and the Five-Sided Fistagon for the criminals that don't.

Finally the ringing ended and a calm, reserved voice came over the line. "Elliot Meyerson here, who is this?"

"This is the guy that _still_ pays you to do what I say." The ensuing silence caused Rock to smile. "Ahh…I guess the rumour that I was dead reached you then? I put a lot of effort into that story you know: fake burnt corpse and everything."

The silence on the other end of the phone answered Rock's question, and so he continued his one-sided conversation. "Well I'm sure if you'd suspected that I _wasn't_ dead then you would've been keeping up with the crime department. Apparently you _did_ think I was dead, else you would know about the two million dollar bounty on my head from the Russian Mafia and the Triad."

A sound finally came from the other side of the line. "It's really you. Isn't it?"

"Uhuh."

"And you're really asking for my help aren't you?"

"Yup."

"And I can't really say no or else you'll kill me, huh?"

"Correctamondo."

"Fuck."

"Pretty much Elliot."

A groan, and then, "What can I do to help you Mr X?"

"Well for starters you can help me find my wife." Rock could tell that an interruption was forthcoming, and so he butted in before Elliot could voice it. "Yes Elliot, I do have a wife. What the problem is... is that she saw my…work."

"Oh god X, don't tell me she saw your interrogation work." Rock's silence answered the question. "Aww shit. How bad was it? Like Columbia?"

Rock cleared his throat and leant against the wall of the bar he was in. "Um…try more like Rwanda."

"AW FUCKING HELL X!"

Rock glared at the phone. "I already fucking know that; I didn't call to be reprimanded by a fucking spook; I called for a phone trace!"

The man on the other side of the line muttered for a couple of seconds, swearing under his breath before answering. "Fine, what's the number?"

After five minutes of silence, Elliot came back with the information. "Okay, I'm sending you the GPS data now – what the hell are you doing in Russia?"

Not bothering to answer the question, Rock checked his phone and memorised the position in his mind. "Now I know that you didn't just call for that alone; so what the hell else do you want?"

"I want Contractor 201."

"YOU WANT WHAT?"

"You heard me correctly – I'm going to need someone I can trust and she's the first person that comes to mind."

"But she-"

Rock's voice darkened. "Elliot, I pay you three grand a week for a reason – now get me 201. Once you've secured her service call me." And he hung up.

Not the nicest thing to do, but under the circumstances he honestly couldn't give much less of a shit about how the corrupt spook felt. He walked quickly to a nearby shop which – inconspicuously – had a small logo on the front window; a logo that all assassins knew very well.

The door tinkled as Rock stepped inside and a moment later an elderly man appeared from beyond a black veil by the counter. He looked at Rock, waiting for an order. After a moments looking, Rock turned to the man. "I'll have the 666 thank you."

With a discreet nod, the man disappeared behind the desk and pulled a suitcase out – placing it on the counter. Rock handed the man several wads of money that he had withdrawn from a bank earlier, grabbed the case and left.

He stopped by in an alley to change, and exited wearing a jet black trench coat, a pair of black shoes, a black top, and a black balaclava in a pocket. He didn't look out of place; far from it.

If one was to actually understand the clothing properly however, they would immediately be on their guard. Woven from synthetic spider webs, the trench coat was virtually bulletproof.

The shirt was made of a substance that would dissolve and seal any wounds should something manage to slip by the trench coat, and the pants were much the same.

Of course the whole lot was fireproof, and it had the added benefit of hiding the massive arsenal of weapons that the case had also held. The number 666 was rather suiting for the package – when somebody bought _that_ there was going to be some serious shit going down somewhere down the line...like hell on Earth shit.

He neared the edge of the city and slipped soundlessly into the outskirts, breaking into an effortless run once the city lights no longer illuminated his form.

When he reached the abandoned warehouse – a cliché hostage situation venue Rock noted – he paused and hid behind a bush. After placing the balaclava over his head, he pulled out some binoculars and began scoping out the various windows.

What he saw made him frown. He saw nothing. No movement, no apparent surveillance, no guards; nothing – which meant one of two things: either Revy wasn't here, or these guys were good. He had his money on the latter.

Sprinting across the open ground, he finally reached the wall of the warehouse, and flattened himself against it. He listened once again, and heard noth-

His ears twitched. A muffled scream. His eyes darkened, and became devoid of all emotion when he heard the smothered sobs that followed.

Not caring for stealth anymore, Rock stepped away from the wall, went to the closest door, and proceeded to kick it right off its fucking hinges.

His eyes took in the situation instantly, and his eyes became absolutely murderous. Revy was lying on the ground, cut, bleeding, bound and gagged.

The fact that she was hurt and restrained wasn't good at all, but the two other observations brought Rock's anger to a rolling boil.

Her clothes were in tatters, her panties were around her ankles, and a thug had his manhood out and was nearing the entrance to Revy's vagina.

Rock had never felt so angry before. At his entrance all seven people in the room had frozen, and Revy's eyes widened as he walked across the room towards the assembled group.

The one about to penetrate Revy spat out at him. "Who the fuck are you?"

A flash of silver later and the man found his penis severed from his body and a bullet in his shoulder so the bloody fountain didn't hit Revy.

The five remaining thugs took a step back while Revy looked up at him in shock – still wondering who he was.

Apparently so were the other thugs, and – ignoring their leaders pained screams – they decided to kill him, and then see who he was.

Killing Rock was hard full stop, but killing Rock when he was furious was damn near impossible. He didn't even bother stopping the bullets, he simply stepped around them before – in a flash, all of them found their bodies pierced with thin needles and they screamed in agony.

Rock watched them before glancing at his watch. Within ten seconds their screams had tripled in intensity as the poison took hold.

Sodium cyanide was flowing through their veins, and with some sulphuric acid in a small point at the tip of the needle it felt like they were burning.

Rock watched their painful deaths with cruel, cold eyes, and turned back to the man who had been about to violate his wife once they had silenced.

The man had watched his friends' deaths, and judging by the look in his eyes he was under no illusion as to what was to become of him. "I was just doing what I was told!"

Rock kept on walking towards him, but heightened his guard at the man's words.

The useful titbit of information however, did nothing to save the man's life. A second later, he found a syringe stuck in his chest, and Rock's finger on the plunger.

When Revy heard his voice she gasped. "In this syringe is a modified strain of the Ebola virus, and an accelerated necrotising fasciitis strain. It will only infect you, and after you die – so will it; the spread of the virus will be contained."

The man's eyes widened at the look in Rock's eyes. "Your death will be far from pleasant however: first, your skin will begin to decay and rot. I assure you that that will be a painful experience, but the last will be far more painful – it will cause your organs to liquidise, and you to bleed from every pore, every orifice."

Rock leant down to the man's ear. "You should never have tried to rape my wife."

He pushed the plunger down and noticed the man's eyes widen in shock. "Just as a bonus, there's a substitute for caffeine mixed in to make sure that you stay awake till the moment you die."

That was the last straw for the deknackered man, and with the syringe still sticking out of his chest, he ran screaming out the door.

Rock didn't waste any time, and ran to Revy before sitting her up and slicing her bonds with a knife – missing the flinch when he touched her.

Once she was free, he held out his hand to help her to her feet and blenched when she moved away from him.

His eyes saddened at her actions, and he sat down on the ground with his eyes lowered.

After pulling off his balaclava he began speaking. "I told you I was fucked up when we first got together, but you didn't believe me."

Her eyes softened slightly, but she made no move towards him – knowing that he hadn't yet finished speaking. "I was brought up thinking that doing that kind of thing was fine. When my parents were killed, I was kidnapped. They thought it would be funny if they could get me to butcher my parents' dead bodies – and I did. I didn't know it was wrong; I was only five at the time."

At this point Revy's mouth was slightly agape: she'd had no idea that he'd ever gone through that. "They kept me. Until I was eight, they kidnapped my entire family – my grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins – and made me murder them while they videoed me. They made me mutilate them before they died, and they would always laugh at their dying screams."

He turned his head slightly and looked at Revy from the corner of his eye. "I've always thought it was fine, that it was normal to do that to people but when I saw the look of terror, the look of horror and disgust when you saw what I had done I…"

He lowered his head again. "I don't want to be like this anymore. I want to change for you."

"Rock…"

Rock's head snapped to the ceiling and a moment later the bullet that had been flying towards Revy's head collided with Rock's back – Revy held tightly in his protective embrace.

Rock grunted with the impact, and then turned his head towards the sound of clapping with an unreadable look on his face.

Slowly a man came into view from the far side of the warehouse, and Rock's eyes slitted when he saw the man's attire.

The white suit and purple top was in harsh contrast with the darkness inside the room, and Rock slowly got to his feet before deftly flicking his wrists and catching the eight blades that flew forth in-between his fingers.

The approaching man paused, and then tilted his head at the livid man in front of him. "Well, I thought a more courteous welcome would await me."

Rock's teeth clenched at the man's colloquial tone. "Attempting to get my wife raped isn't the best way to get on my good list."

"Ah – I see. Well allow me to introduce myself: I am Jasper Norikov, an assa-"

"I don't need to know who you are – you'll be dead."

"Oh I highly doubt tha-"

The man was once again interrupted, this time by a cell phone ringing. The mission impossible theme song echoed out in the room and Rock winced – he'd meant to change that earlier.

He lifted the phone to his ear – ignoring the white-suited man's angered look – and answered the call. "Rock here."

"X?"

"Yeah, what?"

"I've got 201 for you."

Rock raised an eyebrow. "Gee, that was quic-"

"She'll be there momentarily."

"Eh?"

A flicker of movement caught Rock's eye and he turned his back to the door which it came from before preforming a quick succession of hand signals.

He got an owl hoot in reply. Turning his attention back to the job at hand, he caught the last part of Elliot's sentence. "-es in the county and she said that she'd be there."

"Excellent. I'll be calling you a lot more often you know, so I'd appreciate it if you cancelled the trace on my number – I really don't like you blokes knowing where I am." Angered mumbling reached Rock's ears and he turned to the suited man in front of him. "My wife's cell phone too. Gotta go."

He flicked the phone closed and returned it to his pocket before fixing the man with a glare once again. "As I was saying, you're going to die because of two reasons – firstly you've seen me, and most importantly you hurt Revy."

His eyes turned stone cold. "_Nobody_ hurts my wife and gets away with it." A thought occurred to him and he – much to the irritation of his killer – turned to Revy. "You're not going to divorce me or anything?"

She shook her head, tears still running down her cheeks as she realized how painful his life had been. Rock let out a relieved sigh, but growled when he heard a slicing sound behind him.

He stuck out his hand and caught the knife that had been thrown in mid-flight. "That's the second time you've tried to kill my wife."

He turned to face the man and Revy moved behind a small, metal crate when she saw the look in her husband's eyes – she wasn't any use anyway, she thought bitterly.

The two men faced one another, and Rock was the first to move. His arms flung out in an arch, and the knives that had been held in his hands shot forth at incredible speed only to meet empty space where the man had been standing mere moments before.

A searing pain tore across Rock's thigh, and he felt the clothing dissolve and stem the bleeding with a sting. _So fast, I didn't even see him move!_ Pushing the anger to the back of his mind, Rock steeled himself and looked around.

A blur, almost like that of a bullet, appeared out the side of his eye and he spun around to clash blades with the Russian. The blonde-haired man raised an eyebrow. "You're fast."

He pushed away from Rock and began circling him – this time he struck first. Rock feigned a swing at the man's throat but instead flicked a small knife – barely the size of his thumb – at the man's torso.

A rip sounded in the large warehouse, and the suited man looked down at his not-so-pristine suit in amazement. He looked down at the large slice in his jacket before tossing it aside angrily. "You ruined my top."

"You ruined my _day_." The man came at Rock again, and this time managed to get past Rock's defence.

His knife slammed right into Rock's coat…and nothing more. Rock wheezed for a moment – the jacket didn't dampen the blow – before looking up at the man with an amused smile. "Check."

A knife slashed upwards but was blocked mere millimetres from the assassin's throat, and he took the chance to counter Rock's bold move.

Another slice upwards, and the clang of metal sounded as the blade was once again deflected. Rock rushed at the man slashing across his throat, missing, and then delivering a powerful kick to the man's sternum before immediately switching to the defence as he himself was attacked with almost superhuman ferocity.

Suddenly the pair froze, and the purple-shirted assassin grinned; his knife slipped inside Rock's jacket and right through his shoulder. Rock's knife fell to the ground, and the man's grin widened. "I got you!"

Rock winced at the pain, but forced it back as he met Jasper's eyes. "Checkmate."

The man looked at Rock's face in confusion, then down at Rock's empty hands, and then back at his face. His silent question was answered a moment before his brain was splattered against Rock's face when he heard the squeezing of a well-oiled trigger.

Rock wiped the blood away from his eyes before lifting his own gun and firing off a round over his saviour's shoulder, her attacker crumpling behind her. "You were followed."

"And you were nearly dead in the ground."

Rock pulled the woman into a firm embrace. "It's good to see you again 201."

"You too X, but I just go by Eda nowadays." It was then that the woman caught sight of Revy behind one of the barrels, and her eyes widened. "Revy? What the fuck are you doing here?"

"What the fuck are you doing hugging my husband?"

"Your husband? Ha! Yeah right Two-Hands!"

"Hold on…" The two women turned to face Rock, and Rock peered closer at Eda's eyes. When he saw the sapphire blue he blanched. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"What the…ROCK?"

"The fu- why the hell are you here?"

"I'm supposed to meet someone!"

A silence fell among the three, and it was Rock that started to piece things together first. He looked the woman in front of him up and down, and then let out a deep breath. "Well if you yell out a question that only that person would know, then they might answer and come out."

Eda glared at Rock. "That's a stupid idea."

"Tch, see if I try and help again."

Silence once more, until Eda took in a deep breath and – with apparent embarrassment – yelled out a question. "Azerbaijan 1992, at the Yabi Bar – who was the name of the bartender?"

"Donnie Schovitz! Fuck he was a doozie!" Rock laughed uproariously at the memory. "And you were pissed off your head – you're lucky I let off a grenade outside before those blokes took advantage of you."

Rock found himself slammed against one of the nearby walls rather forcefully when he said that, and the nun got right up in Rock's face. "You- how _you _know that?"

Rock pushed her hand off his shoulder. "Because I was there, now would you like me to go into the Breeze Bar in California, 7th May 1997 or should I stop now?"

She let her other hand drop to her side and looked at Rock in astonishment. "X?"

He wiped the brain matter from his face before ducking over to Revy and beginning to tend to her wounds. "Yep, although I have to admit – I had no idea that you were 201." He turned around and gave her a cherry grin. "Congratulations; nobody's ever deceived me like _that_ before."

Revy, by this point, was completely and utterly confused. "Um…"

Rock hissed as Eda bandaged the slice on his leg. "She's CIA – I've worked with her quite a bit as Assassin X."

At the mention of CIA Revy's eyes boggled, and Eda gave Rock a sharp look. "Did you really need to tell her that?"

"She's my wife – so yes; I did."

With a sharp pull, and a gasp from Rock, Eda sat with her back against a barrel of oil and looked at Rock gently dabbing at a wound on Revy's face, and Revy's complete lack of annoyance or anger at the act.

Rock caught her look and pecked Revy lightly on the lips. Eda winced and waited for the slap…nothing. "I'm sorry." Eda's head snapped back to the pair at warp speed – _did Revy just apologise? When he kissed her?_

When she saw Revy cupping Rock's cheek she damn near fainted. "I didn't know Rock, and when I saw you there looking so…calm I got scared. I'm sorry I ran away."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you more about my past; I shouldn't keep that from you – I shouldn't keep _anything_ from you."

"Whoa, hold on there just a second." Rock and Revy turned to face the sapphire-eyed woman with identical raised eyebrows.

Said woman pointed at the two of them, "You two are married?"

They nodded. "And you did it without being forced to?" Another set of nods. "And Revy, you don't regret it?"

"Nope." She snuggled into Rock's side and gave him a small, loving smile which he returned in kind. "I'm sticking with him until I die."

Eda sat there for a few moments before making a gagging sound.

Revy turned to her angrily. "Shut the fuck up Eda! You're just a fucking spook!"

"Um, Revy – she's not a spook; she just contracts out to the CIA."

"Oh."

Eda shook her head in exasperation. "Geez. If it's any consolation Rock, I didn't suspect that you were X either."

Rock grinned at her. "Well I suppose that's a good thing then – but onto business. I'm assuming that you're being paid by the CIA for this job?"

At her nod he continued. "Good. I'm guessing you know about the bounty on our heads?"

"That's you?" At Rock's questioning look she explained. "Well I heard about a two million dollar bounty that the Mafia and the Triad put out, but I don't go for anything over five hundred grand – if I do then I'd blow my cover, so I didn't really pay too much attention to the news."

"Ah. Well anyways, they seem to think that I assassinated their top people and as you can imagine neither Chang nor Balalaika are overly happy." Over the next thirty minutes he explained to Eda the situation that they were in, and then sat back waiting for her verdict.

After a couple of minutes silence she spoke. "So you're trying to figure out who the real culprit is?" Rock nodded. "And then kill him?" Again he nodded, and she hummed thoughtfully. "Well what do you need me for?"

"Cover and a possible situation 156."

She raised an eyebrow. "And how would 156 come about?"

"They want us alive, and chances are that they'll let us decide how to die once they've interrogated us."

"So you'd want a double then?"

"Yeah."

Revy looked between the pair in complete and utter confusion. "156's, doubles, what the hell are you two on about?"

Rock gave her an apologetic look. "Can't tell you sorry; if I did then you'd be in even more danger and there is no way in hell I'm doing that."

Revy grumbled for a couple of seconds, but squeaked in surprise when Rock pulled her into his side with a chuckle. "Stop your murmuring; it doesn't suit you."

Rock pulled Revy's arm over his shoulder and pulled her to her feet, followed shortly after by Eda who walked beside the pair. "So where are we going?"

Rock turned to her and gave her a lopsided grin. Still nod getting an answer, her eyes slitted suspiciously. "Rock, where the hell are we going?"

"New Zealand?"

Her eyes narrowed more. "Why?"

"Because there's a man there that I need to have a talk to."

"Rock, who the hell is he?"

"Um…McGlashan?" His lopsided grin returned, and Eda froze in her tracks – her eyes widening.

Just as Rock and Revy were about to exit the warehouse, a dangerously low voice came from behind them and Rock's face took on an unusually nervous expression. "Rock…"

Said man turned to the woman at his side ruefully. "Revy, I might just die earlier than I thought."

"ROCK!"


End file.
